Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T00:39:32.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reducing socioeconomic differences in anthropometric characteristics among young Polish women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2021

Katarzyna Kliś Open the ORCID record for Katarzyna Kliś [Opens in a new window]  and
Iwona Wronka Open the ORCID record for Iwona Wronka [Opens in a new window]
Katarzyna Kliś*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, Poland
Iwona Wronka
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the socioeconomic differences in adult anthropometric parameters of young women in Poland. The study was cross-sectional and conducted in the years 2015 to 2018 among 1257 women aged 19–24 years. The heights, weights, wrist widths and waist, hip and chest circumferences of the subjects were measured. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) and chest-to-height ratio (CHtR) were calculated. A survey was conducted to collect data on the women’s socioeconomic characteristics. The application of the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) including all socioeconomic indicators (urbanization level of place of residence in childhood, parental education, number of siblings, material conditions) revealed no significant association of these with any of the analysed anthropometric traits. The results of the logistic regression showed no significant differences in the risk of underweight, too low abdominal adiposity or too high abdominal adiposity. However, the risk of overweight and obesity was significantly affected by the degree of urbanization of the women’s place of residence in childhood and by their number of siblings. The results show that the socioeconomic factors that once had a significant influence on anthropometric traits currently do not play such an important role. This change can be explained by the equalization of living conditions and lifestyles of individual social groups in Poland.

Keywords

Anthropometric parametersBody proportionSocioeconomic status
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , March 2022 , pp. 347 - 353
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alter, G, Neven, M and Oris, M (2004) Stature in transition: a micro-level study from nineteenth century Belgium. Social Science History 28, 231–248.Google Scholar
Aßmann, C and Hermanussen, M (2013) The community effect on growth. In Hermanussen, M (ed.) Auxology: Studying Human Growth and Development. Schweizerbart Science Publishers, Stuttgart, pp. 68–71.Google Scholar
Bielicki, T (1998) Growth as an indicator of social inequalities. In Ulijaszek, SJ, Johnston, FE and Preece, MA (eds) Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Human Growth and Development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 54–57.Google Scholar
Bogin, B, Hermanussen, M, Blum, WF and Aßmann, C (2015) Sex, sport, IGF-1 and the community effect in height hypothesis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12 (5), 4816–4832.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bogin, B, Hermanussen, M and Scheffler, C (2018) As tall as my peers – similarity in body height between migrants and hosts. Anthropologisher Anzeiger 74(5), 365–376.Google ScholarPubMed
Brundtland, GH, Liestol, K and Walloe, L (1980) Height, weight and menarcheal age of Oslo schoolchildren during the last 60 years. Annals of Human Biology 7, 307–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cernerud, L (1994) Are there still social inequalities in height and body mass index of Stockholm children? Journal of Public Health 22, 161–165.Google ScholarPubMed
Charzewska, J, Chabros, E, Wajszczyk, B, Rogalska-Niedźwiedź, M and Chwojnowska, Z (2004) Wysokość ciała młodzieży z Warszawy na tle kolejnych okresów ekonomii. In Kaczanowski, K (ed.) Trendy sekularne na tle zmian cywilizacyjnych. Wydawnictwo AWF, Warsaw, pp. 75–84.Google Scholar
Due, P, Damsgaard, MT, Rasmussen, M, Holstein, BE, Wardle, J, Merlo, J et al. (2009) Socioeconomic position, macroeconomic environment and overweight among adolescents in 35 countries. International Journal of Obesity 33, 1084–1093.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
George, D and Mallery, M (eds) (2010) SPSS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference. 17.0 Update, 10th edition. Pearson, Boston.Google Scholar
GUS – Statistics Poland (2019) Human Capital in Poland in the Years 2014–2018. Warsaw, Gdańsk. URL: https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/inne-opracowania/inne-opracowania-zbiorcze/ (accessed 10th December 2019).Google Scholar
Harrison, GA and Schmitt, LH (1989) Variability in stature growth. Annals of Human Biology 16, 45–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hermanussen, M, Alt, C, Staub, K, Aßmann, C and Groth, D (2014) The impact of physical connectedness on body height in Swiss conscripts. Anthropologisher Anzeiger 71(4), 313–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huchard, E, English, S, Bell, MB, Thavarajah, N and Clutton-Brock, T (2016) Competitive growth in a cooperative mammal. Nature 533(7604), 532–534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ipsen, MJ, Nowak-Szczepanska, N, Gomula, A, Aßmann, C and Hermanussen, M (2016) The association of body height, height variability and inequality. Anthropologisher Anzeiger 73(1), 1–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jopkiewicz, A and Zabrodzka, T (1997) Środowiskowe uwarunkowania poziomu rozwoju fizycznego studentów WSP w Kielcach. In Jopkiewicz A (eds) Auksologia a promocja zdrowia. Polska Akademia Nauk – Oddział w Krakowie, Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Kraków, pp. 77–84.Google Scholar
Kolasa, E (1980) Wiek menarche a budowa fizyczna studentek wrocławskich w zależności od warunków środowiskowych. Materiały i Prace Antropologiczne 99, 3–61.Google Scholar
Komlos, J (1990) Height and social status in eighteenth-century Germany. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 20, 607–621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kozieł, S, Nowak-Szczepańska, N and Gomuła, A (eds) (2014) Antropologiczne badania dzieci i młodzieży w Polsce w latach 1966–2012. Zmiany sekularne i różnicowanie społeczne. Oficyna Wydawnicza Arboretum, Wrocław.Google Scholar
Krzyżanowska, M and Mascie-Taylor, CGN (2011) Intra- and inter-generational social mobility in relation to height, weight and BMI in a British national cohort. Journal of Biosocial Science 43(5), 611–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krzyżanowska, M and Umławska, W (2010) The relationship of Polish students’ height, weight and BMI with some socioeconomic variables. Journal of Biosocial Science 42, 643–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larnkjær, A, Schrøder, AS, Schmidt, MI, Jørgensen, HM and Michaelsen, FK (2006) Secular change in adult stature has come to a halt in northern Europe and Italy. Acta Paediatrica 95, 754–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, SSF, Lau, JTF, Xu, YY, Tse, LY, Huen, KF, Wong, GWK et al. (1996) Secular changes in height, sitting height and sexual maturation of Chinese – the Hong Kong growth study, 1993. Annals of Human Biology 23(4), 297–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, L, Manor, O and Power, C (2004) Are inequalities in height narrowing? Comparing effects of social class on height in two generations. Archives of Disease in Childhood 89(11), 1018–1023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindgren, G (1976) Height, weight and menarche in Swedish urban school children in relation to socio-economic and regional factors. Annals of Human Biology 13(6), 501–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Listōl, K and Rosenberg, M (1995) Height, weight and menarcheal age of schoolgirls in Oslo – an update. Annals of Human Biology 22(3), 199–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, L (2007) Socioeconomic status and obesity. Epidemiological Reviews 29, 29–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malinowski, A and Jeziorek, A (1992) Środowiskowe uwarunkowania poziomu rozwoju fizycznego studentów Uniwersytetu łódzkiego. In Rożnowski F (eds) Biologia Populacji Ludzkich Współczesnych i Pradziejowych. WSP, Słupsk, pp., 263–268.Google Scholar
Marrodan, MD, Mesa, MS, Aréchiga, J and Pérez-Magdaleno, A (2000) Trend in menarcheal age in Spain, rural and urban comparison during a recent period. Annals of Human Biology 27, 313–319.Google Scholar
Mumm, R, Ipsen, MJ and Hermanussen, M (2016) The association of weight, weight variability and socioeconomic situation among children. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 70, 650–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nowak-Szczepanska, N, Gomula, A, Ipsen, MJ and Koziel, S (2016) Different effects of living conditions on the variation in BMI and height in children before the onset of puberty. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 70, 662–666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Redžić, A and Hadžihalilović, J (2007) Influence of some socio-economic factors on growth and development of the boys in the Tuzian region (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Collegium Antropologicum 31(2), 427–434.Google Scholar
Saczuk, J, Wasiluk, A and Wilczewski, A (2018) Body height and age at menarche of girls from eastern Poland in the period of political transformation. Anthropological Review 81(2), 130–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silventoinen, K, Lahelma, E and Rahkonen, O (1999) Social background, adult body-height and health. International Journal of Epidemiology 28, 911–918.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Subramanian, SV, Ozalti, E and Finlay, JE (2011) Height of nations: a socioeconomic analysis of cohort differences and patterns among women in 54 low- to middle-income countries. PLoS One 6, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanner, JM (1987) Growth as a mirror of the condition of society: secular trends and class distinctions. Acta Paediatrics Japanese 29(1), 96–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ulijaszek, SJ (eds) (1995) Human Energetics in Biological Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wronka, I and Pawlinska-Chmara, R (2009) Childhood environment and adult height among Polish university students. Collegium Antropologicum 33(4), 1039–1045.Google ScholarPubMed
Wronka, I, Suliga, E and Pawlińska-Chmara, R (2012) Socioeconomic determinants of underweight and overweight in female Polish students in 2009. Anthropologisher Anzeiger 69(1), 85–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed