Differences in the physical development of children and adolescents in Polish towns and villages

Abstract

The state of physical development of the inhabitants of towns and villages of the Silesian macroregion (provinces of Katowice, Bielsko Biała and Częstochowa), and those who live in big industrial towns of this region (Katowice province) have been presented against the back ground of the differentiated level of physical development in children and adolescents of different Polish populations. It has been found that children and youth of big industrial towns in the Silesian macroregion do not differ among each other regarding their growth and body structure (Quetelet's index), they also show a similar body growth as their peers in other big industrial towns in Poland, Children ana adolescents of towns and villages of the Silesian macroregion, studied in 1974, have an intermediate place regarding body growth variability characterizing Polish populations in the seventies. Furthermore, within this region, slight differences regarding body growth are observed (particularly among girls and 17-year-old boys) betwcen the inhabitants of towns and villages. Similarly as in this macroregion, slight differences among urban and rural children are observed in the province of Bydgoszcz, while higher differences are visible in the region of Wielkopolska.