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FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDREN’S HEIGHT AND BODY MASS INDEX IN LITHUANIA, 1990–2008

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2015

Andrej Suchomlinov  and
Janina Tutkuviene
Andrej Suchomlinov*
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
Janina Tutkuviene
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

The aim of the study was to reveal the ethnic and socioeconomic factors associated with height and body mass index (BMI) of children during the period of political and social transition in Lithuania in 1990–2008. Data were derived from the personal health records of 1491 children (762 boys and 729 girls) born in 1990 in Vilnius city and region. Height and BMI from birth up to the age of 18 years were investigated. Children were divided into groups according to their ethnicity, place of residence, father’s and mother’s occupation and birth order. Height and BMI were compared between the groups; a Bonferroni correction was applied. A multiple linear regression model was used to measure the effects of the independent variables on height and BMI. Girls living in Vilnius city were significantly taller in later life at the ages of 8 and 11 years. Sons of mothers employed as office workers appeared to be significantly taller at the ages of 7, 12, 14 and 15 years compared with the sons of labourers. First-born girls were taller at the age of 7 years than later-born girls of the same age (124.48±5.11 cm and 122.92±5.14 cm, respectively, p<0.001). Later-born children of both sexes had higher BMIs at birth compared with first-borns; however, first-born girls had higher BMIs at the age of 11 years compared with their later-born peers (17.78±2.87 kg/m² and 16.79±2.14 kg/m² respectively, p<0.001). In the multiple linear regression model, the five tested independent variables explained only up to 18% of total variability. Boys were more sensitive to ethnic and socioeconomic factors: ethnicity appeared to be a significant predictor of boys’ height at the age of 5 years (p<0.001), while birth order (p<0.001) predicted boys’ BMI at birth. In general, ethnicity, place of residence, father’s and mother’s occupation and birth order were not associated with children’s height and BMI in most age groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , July 2016 , pp. 502 - 529
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2015 

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