Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2008
The physique of 1888 girls, all born in 1939 or later, who entered University College Swansea in the period 1959–70, was investigated to see whether variations in height, weight and ponderal index were correlated with various factors in their family environment. Analysis of variance, multiple regression, and covariance analysis showed that stature and ponderal index varied according to social class and year of birth. However, analysis of a local subsample of the data indicates that these effects are primarily due to the changing composition of the student intake over the years, and the regional heterogeneity of the sample.