engleski

Comparison of anthropometric characteristics of children from Slavonian region with who standards

The aim of this paper was to compare percentile values of children in the Slavonia region with the values of the World Health Organization (WHO) and to identify gender differences in the percentage of obese. The sample consisted of a total of 902 children (465 were boys and 437 girls) from 9 preschools, with an average age of 62.39 months (SD=14.98 ; min=33.66 ; max=86.40). The body height (stadiometer SECA213) and body weight (scale Omron BF511) was measured and body mass index was calculated. The results of transversal research showed that the differences in the specified period from 33, 6 to 86, 4 months are 27.2 cm in girls and 25.5 cm in boys, which are differences of 6.8 cm per year in girls and 6.37 cm per year in boys. At the same time the differences in body mass are 8.35 kg in girls and 8.6 kg in boys, or 2.08 kg per year in girls and 2.15 kg per year in boys. Also, the growth of children does not deviate from the reference value represented by the (WHO), children are on average within the boundary value of the 15th and the 85th percentile. Results also indicate that at this age in the sample there are gender differences only in body height, with boys significantly higher than girls by 1.58 cm (t=2.12 ; p=0.03). However, gender differences are present in frequencies belonging to each category (underweight, normal, and overweight). The Chi square test showed a different percentage of boys and girls in each category, and this is especially true in the category “underweight” (less than 15th percentile) and “normal” (in the 15-85th percentile) in the variable body height and body weight. Some noticeable differences in the category “overweight” (more than 85th percentile) were obtained in the variable body mass index. Furthermore, the results of this research show that more than 15% of boys and 20% of girls are overweight (BMI above 85th percentile) compared to the values of the (WHO), whereby there is a significant difference in the prevalence of overweight by gender (χ²=49.47 ; p=0.00).

Anthropocentric characteristics, elementary school children

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