Small, yet steady secular gain in height and weight of school children in the city of Sendai in past 15 years.

Trends in Growth Status among Schoolchildren in Sendai, Japan, 1994-2003: Leveling-Off of Mean Body Height and Weight

“…Such acceleration in growth was then followed by a gradual reduction in the degree of acceleration in the years around 1980 (Ikeda et al 1983;Nakatsuka et al 1988). However, the continuation of the monitoring disclosed reacceleration in growth from 1985 to 1994, although the reacceleration was evident only among 6thPS (Nakatsuka et al 1998).…”

“…Boys and girls in the 6th grade of primary school (6thPS) and in the 3rd year of junior high school (3rdJHS) in the city of Sendai have been examined for height and body weight since 1934 (Kondo et al 1978;Ikeda et al 1983;Nakatsuka et al 1988Nakatsuka et al , 1998. The Sendai City Education Commission supplied the measurements to our department for statistical evaluation.…”

“…We have also been monitoring the secular changes in growth of the 6th year children in primary schools (6thPS, 11-12 years old) and 3rd year children in junior high schools (3rdJHS, 14-15 years old) in the city of Sendai since 1934 (pre-World War II days) ( Fig. 1) (Kondo et al 1978;Ikeda et al 1983;Nakatsuka et al 1988Nakatsuka et al , 1998. It was previously made clear that the schoolchildren in Sendai were always taller and heavier than those of the preceding year, and that the increments were as large as 0.5 cm and 0.4 kg per year from the late 1940s to the early 1970s (Kondo et al 1978).…”

Possible urban-rural difference in habitus of school children in Sendai.

“…Children in urbanized areas once tended to be taller and/or heavier than their counterparts in rural areas (Kondo et al 1978), but such urban-rural difference in body habitus has gradually faded out in the city of Sendai in accordance with the expansion of urban areas and disappearance of surrounding farming zones (Ikeda et al 1983;Nakatsuka et al 1988a). In 1987In -1988, there was a large-scale merge involving two cities of Sendai and Izumi, and two towns of Miyagi and Akiu to form a new and enlarged city of Sendai.…”