Journal of Auxological Society, Vol.1 2021
Growth, Nutrition and Economy – Proceedings of the 27 th Aschauer Soiree, Held at Krobielowice, Poland, November 16 th 2019
Michael Hermanussen1• Christiane Scheffler2• Lidia Martin2• Detlef Groth3• James G. Waxmonsky4• James Swanson5• Natalia Nowak-Szczepanska6• Aleksandra Gomula6• Anna Apanasewicz6• Jan M. Konarski7• Robert M.Malina8• Sylwia Bartkowiak7• Lidia Lebedeva9• Andrej Suchomlinov10• Vsevolod Konstantinov11• Werner Blum12• Yehuda Limony13• Raja Chakraborty14• Sylvia Kirchengast15• Janina Tutkuviene10• Egle MarijaJakimaviciene10• Ramune Cepuliene10• Daniel Franken16• Bárbara Navazo17• Annang G. Moelyo18• Takashi Satake19• Slawomir Koziel6
1Aschauhof 3,24340 Eckernförde–Altenhof, Germany. 2University of Potsdam, Human Biology, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. 3University of Potsdam, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, 14476 Potsdam Golm, Germany. 4Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA17033, USA. 5Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, CA92617, USA. 6Department of Anthropology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 50–449 Wroclaw, Poland. 7Poznań University of Physical Education, Department of Theory of Sport, Poznań, Poland. 8Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, TX78712, USA. 9Public Opinion Foundation, Moscow, Russia. 10Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Institute of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania. 11Department of General Psychology, Penza State University, Penza, Russia. 1261250 Usingen, Germany. 13 Beer Sheva 8481647 Israel. 14Dinabandhu Mahavidyalaya, Bongaon, West Bengal, India 743235. 15University of Vienna/ Institute for Anthropology, 1090 Vienna, Austria. 16Economic and Social History Department, University of Groningen, 9712 EK Groningen, The Netherlands. 17Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Ontogeniay Adaptación (LINOA). Facultad de Ciencias Naturalesy Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. 18Moewardi Hospital, Jalan Kolonel Soetarto 132, Surakarta, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. 19National Institute of Health and Nutrition & Otsuma Women’s University,522–6,Mabashi,Matsudo,Chiba271–0051,Japan
Abstract
Twenty-three scientists met at Krobielowice, Poland to discussthe role of growth, nutrition and economy on body size. Contrasting prevailing concepts, re-analyses of studies in Indonesian and Guatemalan school children with high prevalence of stunting failed to provide evidence for an association between nutritional status and body height. Direct effects of parental education on growth that were not transmitted via nutrition were shown in Indian datasets using network analysis and novel statistical methods (St. Nicolas House Analysis) that translate correlation matrices into network graphs. Data on Polish children suggest significant impact of socio economic sensitivity on child growth, with no effect of maternal money satisfaction. Height and maturation tempo affect the position of a child among its peers. Correlations also exist between mood disorders and height. Secular changes in height and weight varied across decades independent of population size. Historic and recent Russian data showed that height of persons whose fathers performed manual work were on average four cm shorter than persons whose fathers were high degree specialists. Body height, menarcheal age, and body proportions are sensitive to socio economic variables. Additional topics included delayed motherhood and its associations with newborn size; geographic and socio economic indicators related to low birth weight, prematurity and still birth rate; data on anthropometric history of Brazil, 1850–1950; the impactof central nervous system stimulants on the growth of children with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder; and pituitary development and growth hormone secretion. Final discussions debated on reverse causality interfering between social position, and adolescent growth and developmental tempo.
Keywords: nutrition, stunting, socio economy, education, secular changes, pubertal timing
Correspondence to: Michael Hermanussen email: michael.hermanussen@gmail.com