A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT RATES OF CHILDREN 12 TO 15 YEARS OLD

The prevalence of obesity has been increasing significantly in the last decades, globally, in industrialized as well as in developing countries. The somatic parameters, height and weight, as well as their ratio, the body mass index (BMI), are important landmarks of growth and development of the human body in the preadolescent population, 12 to 15 year olds in secondary school

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the parameters measured in 2010 and 2014 respectively, are comparable with the reference values reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as to characterize the evolution of these parameters, over a four year period, in a sample of 46 secondary school students (28 boys and 18 girls), from the total study population previously evaluated.

We conducted a comparative analysis for the main somatic parameters: height and weight, as well as BMI, for a total of 1081 de secondary school students from four middle schools in the city of Brasov, of which 497 were girls and 521 were boys.

Data collected shows that the parameters measured in 2010 and again in 2014 are significantly higher than the WHO reference values. In the 46 student sample evaluated starting at the age of 12 up to the age of 15, boys have grown on average 22.86 cm in height, and their weight increased on average with 16.09 kg, while girls have grown on average 12.69 cm in height and their weight increased on average with 10.19 kg. Also, visible fluctuations have been seen from analyzing the BMI values, indicating that in preadolescence growth processes are more intensive. Between the age of 12 and 15 years old, girls have grown, on average, 1.52 kg/m2, and boys 0.71 kg/m2, in 2014.

The significantly higher level of the measured parameters compared to the WHO values, emphasize the effect of the growth acceleration phenomenon on the middle school children population. This growth acceleration phenomenon is first and foremost the result of urbanization and the superior quality of foods but the genetic factors also play an important role.