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Body size of young adult Polish college‐age women born before, during, and after WWII
Author(s) -
Liczbińska Grażyna,
Czapla Zbigniew,
Malina Robert M.,
Piontek Janusz
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.23040
Subject(s) - demography , world war ii , birth weight , young adult , medicine , gerontology , pregnancy , geography , biology , sociology , archaeology , genetics
Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the young adult body size of Polish female university students born before, during, and after WWII. Methods Age, height, and weight of 492 students measured between 1956 and 1972 were accessed from the Department of Anthropology archives (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań). The sample was divided into three birth year cohorts relative to WWII: before ( n = 120), during ( n = 196), and after ( n = 176). Birth years spanned 1935 through 1952. BMI was calculated. Body size among birth cohorts was compared with age of the student and education level of the father as covariates (ANCOVA). Results The birth cohorts differed significantly in height ( P < .01), but not in weight and BMI. Women born during WWII were shorter than women born before and after the war; heights of latter cohorts did not differ. The trend for weight was similar, but differences were not significant. Birth cohorts did not differ in BMI. Conclusions Young adult heights of women born during WWII were shorter than the heights of women born before and immediately after the war, although differences were relatively small.