GROWTH: OF NEW ZEALAND PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN · 2013-09-30 · For the first time a comprehensive...

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GROWTH: OF NEW ZEALAND

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

.... Issued by the Manage:nent"Servtces and ," Research Unit" Department of Health,

. "i' o,~".a· Wellington, New Zeala,nd &

'0' "

WS ,103 GRO 1975

1975

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

GROWTH OF NEW ZEALAND

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN (1973)

A Survey by the Family Health Branch and

the Management Services and Research Unit

of the Department of Health and the Plunket Society

SPECIAL REPORT No. 44

Issued by the Management Services and Research Unit,

Department of Health, Wellington

r-rRSHEARER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON. NEW ZEALAND-1975

CONTENTS

Page

Foreword

Preface

In'croduction 1

The Sa...'1lple 1

Race 1

Age 1

Recording of Data 1

Results 2

Statistical Formulae 2

Percentile Standards 3

Smoothed Nean Neasurements 12

Comparison of Boy and Girl Growth Velocities 18

Weight-Length Ratio 26

Comparison of Naori and Non-Maori Pre-School Children 28

Length 28

Weight 31

Chest Circlli'1lference 34

Head Circumference 37

Comparison with Previous Survey 43

Comparison with Other Countries 46

Acknowledgements 54

Bibliography 55

Appendix A Mean Heasurements 56

Appendix B Growth of New Zealand Infants during the First Year of

Life 61

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

LIST OF TABLES

Table

Smoothed mean measurements for New Zealand pre-school children

Quarterly increment in mean length

Quarterly increment in mean weight

Quarterly increment in mean chest circumference

Quarterly increment in mean head circumference

Ratio of mean weight to mean length

Length - Maori and non-Maori boys

Length - Maori and non-Maori girls

Weight - Maori and non-Maori boys

Weight - Maori and non-Maori girls

Chest circumference - Maori and non-Maori boys

Chest circumference - Maori and non-Maori girls

Head circumference - Maori and non-Maori boys

Head circumference - Maori and non-Maori girls

Comparison of head circumference in Maori and non-Maori boys

Lengths and weights of New Zealand infants, 1944 and 1973

Length - New Zealand and overseas boys

Length - New Zealand and overseas girls

weight - New Zealand and overseas boys

Weight - New Zealand and overseas girls

Chest circumference - New Zealand and overseas

Head circumference - New Zealand and overseas boys

Head circumference - New Zealand and overseas girls

Length

Weight

Chest circumference

Head circumference

Page

(l973) 12

18

19

20

21

26

28

29

31

32

34

35

37

38

40

43

46

47

48

48

51

51

52

57

58

59

60

Inset t

PREFACE

Paediatricians, generally, are concerned with the growth of individual children while nutritionists and social and preventive health workers are more concerned with the growth )

of groups of children. All use growth measurements for evaluation and therefore require adequate standards of comparison.

The criteria of normal child growth in New Zealand have until recently been based on ( height and weight standards derived from samples of well~nourished children in other developed countries. Such standards are, however, frequently criticised as not being j applicable to children in New Zealand. This is the second of two reports published by the Department of Health on the physical developmer.t of New Zealand children. The first, published in 1971, covered the development of school children aged 5 - 15 years. The present report covers the development of pre-school children aged 1 month to 5 years.

Though in the past there have been a number of growth studies of New Zealand children most of these have been studies of school children. The only previous pre-school study of any consequence was a study of infants in the first year of life carried out by Deem and Silverstone and reported in the New Zealand Medical Journal in 1943. With the kind permission of the Journal this report has been reprinted as Appendix B of the present report thus bringing together the two main sources of information on the growth of preschool children in New Zealand.

The predominantly bi-racial characteristic of New Zealand society presents an 7 interesting opportunity to study and compare the physical development of two racial ). groups.

Approximately one New Zealander in eight is of Polynesian decent being either Maori or a Pacific Islander and the proportion is rapidly increasing. A question then asked in our study was - can genetic differences in growth potential be estimated between the main racial groups in New Zealand society, and if so, do these differences warrant the establishment of separate height and weight standards for European and Polynesian children?

The report has been prepared as a reference document rather than as a report to be read at a single sitting. Smoothed percentile diagrams and smoothed means of length, weight, chest and head circumference are reported by age. Growth velocities for these 7 four parameters are presented and compared for boys and girls. A similar comparison is \. made of weight-length ratios. A detailed comparison is made of the physical development of Maori and non-Maori children. And finally, t4e findings are compared with tpe results of the previous New Zealand study and with studies done overseas.

As a general statement it can be said that the pattern of physical development of ) pre-school children in New Zealand is virtually identical with that observed in children r in affluent communities in other countries. Most authorities now agree that little ( difference exists between the height-weight patterns of well nourished children ) regardless of their ethnic origins. Where significant differences do exist between groups of children most of the variation can best be explained on the basis of social class and its associated environmental effects. This general thesis is strongly supported by the findings of our two studies.

The statistically significant difference in head circumference shown between Maori and non-Maori boys is interesting and will doubtless prompt some speculation. Historical descriptive evidence exists to support the finding that Maori males have smaller heads than Europeans (Thompson 1859) and in this context the Lindauer pictures reproduced in the text are interesting. An ethnic explanation of this difference would seem the most plausible.

Since the previous study in 1944 there has been a slight increase in the length and weight of infants in the first year of life. Comparative data for the age group 1 - 5 years are not available but small increases in the height and weight of school children were demonstrated between the studies carried out in 1934 and 1969. The growth increments are in keeping with those observed in other developed countries and are best explained on the basis of improved social and environmental conditions including improved nutrition. Certainly there is nothing to suggest that malnutrition, in the I sense of under-nutrition, is a significant health problem in New Zealand. ).

From a methodological point of view our height-weight studies compared on equal terms with good studies done overseas. The striking feature of international comparisons is the similarity between growth patterns of children in developed countries, regardless of ethnic origin. This be~ng so it is doubtful whether anything is to be gained by reporting similar data for Maori and non-Maori separately in future studies. Further it could be suggested that, given a continuing flow of good information from overseas, we are unlikely to need 'to repeat the studies for many years to corne.

Finally, it is hoped that interested paediatricians, nutritionists and others will further mine our data with a view to throwing additional light on the physical development 7 of New Zealand children. If, in the process of such study, further information is ) required we would be pleased to help in any way we are able. .

N.C. Begg

B.J. Mackay

G.C. Salmond

FOREWORD

For the first time a comprehensive survey of the physical development of New Zealand

pre-school children has been undertaken. The study, upon which this report is based, was

a joint effort by the Department of Health and the Plunket Society. The field work was

planned in 1972 and carried out early in 1973. The growth parameters reported are the

length, weight, chest circumference and head circumference of New Zealand children aged

1 month to 5 years.

It is a pleasure to thank the many doctors, nurses and clerical staff who so

meticulously measured and reported on the large sample of pre-school children and the

Plunket voluntary workers who helped with the arrangements and in the transport of the

mothers and their children. One of the most pleasing features of the study is the high

order of co-operation achieved between the Department of Health and the Plunket Society.

Thanks are also due to the staff of the Family Health Branch who initiated the study

and who, together with senior staff of the Plunket Society, planned and organised it and

to the team from the department's Management Services and Research Unit who designed,

analysed and reported it.

This study is an important contribution to New Zealand paediatric knowledge and will

be of interest and practical use to a wide variety of disciplines.

,~/,A':,Ij , III . .J-(, ,~d. (~: • • Hiddlestone)

Director-General of Health

INTRODUCTION

In February 1973 the Department of Health joined with the Plunket Society in a national survey of growth and development of pre-school children. Measurements were made in February and March 1973 by teams which included at least one medical officer, plunket nurse, public health nurse and clerk.

The Department of Social Welfare released names and addresses from Family Benefit records to make up 80 percent of the sample. The remaining 20 percent consisting of children under 5 months, was obtained by extracting every eleventh birth return in order fFom those received by district health offices within the previous four months.

The total s~ple was 13,000 names; and although in some districts up to one-third of the addresses supplied were "out-of-date", tremendous effort on the'part of district medical and nursing staff ensured a 78 percent response rate.

THE SAMPLE

The sample was not stratified to increase Maori representation, as in the 1969 survey*, and Ma.ori children therefore represented only 11.5 percent of those sampled.

Girls

Total 4951 5161

Maori 570 593

Islander 114 123

Other 4267 4445

RACE

At the time of the survey a Maori was defined, for statistical purposes, as a person who can claim 50 percent or more Maori descent. An Islander was any person who considered himself a Pacific Islander.

AGE

The ages of the children were computed in days between birth date and date of measurement. Children of less than 30 days age were excluded, as were those of over 1826 days (5 years). The age groupings in the tables that follow consisted of one group for each month in the first year of life and one group for each quarter year following. The data are considered to represent the groups at their midpoints, that is l~ months, 2~ months, 3~ months and so on up to 4 years 4~ months, 4 years 7~ months, and 4 years l~ months.

RECORDING OF DATA

The supine height of each child was measured on a table with his feet flat against a wall.

chest circumference was measured also in the supine position, in a vertical plane at the sub-sternal notch, at the end of expiration. Head circumference was measured from above the eybrows to the most prominent part of the occiput, the tape being drawn firmly against the head. All linear, measurements were recorded to the nearest millimetre.

* Physical Development of New Zealand School Children 1969, Department of Health, Special Report Series, 38, 1971~

Sig.2

2

weight was measured to the finest calibration of the scales (of various types), the degree varying with the weight of the child and the equipment available.

RESULTS

The data from the 1973 survey are presented under the following headings:

1. Smoothed percentile diagrams of length, weight, chest and head circumferences against age at three monthly rests.

2. Smoothed norms (means) of the four measurements by age group.

3. Growth velocities observed for length, weight, chest and head measurements three monthly age groups.

4. A compara'tive study of Maori and non-Maori pre-school children in 1973.

5. comparisons with the results of a previous New Zealand study and with some overseas studies.

STATISTICAL FORMULAE

V LThe standard deviation was calculated as (x-x)2/n

and the standard error as standard deviation/~

where n is the size of the age group being measured. The accuracy of the measurements has been retained throughout with ,an additional decimal place for the standard deviation and the standard error.

3

PERCENTILE STANDARDS

The age-specific percentile standards presented in Figures 1 to 8 are based on the corresponding percentiles calculated for the 27 separate age groups, smoothed in two stages.

The relationships of the inner five percentiles (at 10, 25, 50, 75 and 90 percent) indicated that for all measurements and in all age and sex groups the sample distributions conformed closely to the Normal or Gaussian form within these limits. The outer two percentiles (at 3 percent and 97 percent) in many cases showed excessive variability, after allowance was made for their lower statistical weights, but contrary to expectation they did not indicate any consistent departures from the Normal distributional form, for instance in skewness or kurtosis*. A regression analysis' was therefore carried out on the inner five percentiles for each age group, producing a standard deviation estimate ,and an improved median estimate based on the hypothesis of a Normal distribution. The ageregressions of these two parameters were smoothed empirically, and the final percentile standards were calculated from the smoothed values (the medians being now tantamount to means).

The percentile standards relate throughout to 3-month age ranges, although the percentiles and standard deviations originally calculated for children under 1 year' (age groups 1 to 11) related to I-month age ranges. For example, the 10 percent and 90 percent points plotted at age 6 months relate to children aged from 4~ to 7~ months, and are appreciably wider than the corresponding points for children aged from 5~ to 6~ months or for children aged just 6 months.

In the smoothed percentile graphs for weight at given age (figures 3 and 4) the top horizontal axis has been calibrated to show median length at the corresponding age. Weight standards in relation to length are also shown in table 6 and figure 18.

* Since weight is commonly found to be a skew-distributed measure, with a standard deviation approximately proportional to the mean at different ages, the weight percentiles were also tested for conformity to the log-Normal distribution, but no reason was found for preferring this model.

2·

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50

Age in years·

Figure t SMOOTHED PERCENTILES FOR LENGTH - BOYS

5

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.6

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Figure 3. SMOOTHED PERCENTILES FOR WEIGHT - BOYS

7

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Figure 4. SMOOTH.E D PERCENTILES FOR WEIGHT - GI RLS

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Figure 5.' SMOOTHED PERCENTILES FOR CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE - BOYS .

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Figure 6, SMOOTHED PERCENTILES FOR CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE- GIRLS

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12

SMOOTHED MEAN MEASUREMENTS·

TABLE 1. SMOOTHED MEAN MEASUREMENTS FOR NEW ZEALAND PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN 1973

Age Length Weight

Centimetres Kilograms

Yr Mth Boys Girls Boys Girls

o :11:1 56.05 55.62 4.80 4.64 o : 2 57.74 57.15 5.24 5.01

~

o 3 61.26 60.05 6.14 5.73 o 4 64.34 62.52 6.98 16.40 o 5 66.41 64.54 7.67 7.04 o 6 68.08 66.31 8.25 7.64

I

o 7 69.62 67.92 8.75 8.14 o 8 71.08 69.44 9.19 8.55 o 9 72.47 70.88 9:.58 8.89 o :10 73.80 72.25 9.93 9.20 o :11 75.08 73.54 10.25 9.48 1 : 0 76.32 74.78 10.54 9.74

1 3 79.74 78.21 11.29 10.45

1 6 82.80 81.31 11.91 11.08

1 9 85.56 84.16 12.45 11.68

2 : 0 88.07· 86.74 12.92 12.24

2 3 90.36 89.12 13.38 12.79

2 6 92.49 91.33 13.88 13.33

2 9 94.46 93.41 14.38 13.86

3 0 96.34 95.40 14.87 14.39

3 3 98.13 97.31 15.35 14.91

3 6 99.90 99.16 15.83 15.42

3 9 101. 63 100.93 16.32 15.92

4 0 103.39 102.69 16.80 16.42.

4 3 105.13 104.40 17.28 16.92

4 6 .106.84 106.08 17.78 17.43

4 9 108.49 107.76 18.35 17.97

5 0 110.09 109.38 18.93 18.55

Chest

Centimetres

Head

Centimetres

Boys

37.24

38.43

4Q..29

41. 73

42.93

43.98

44.94

45.75

46.42

46.97

47.44

47.83

48.76

. 49.47

50.05

50.55

51.03

51.49

51. 94

52.39

52.85

53.29

53.72

54.12

54.50

54.87

55.21

55.54

Girls

36.73

37.73

39.27

40.52

41.65

42.75

43.72

44.52·

45.18

45.72

46.16

46.52

47.34

48.00

48.58·

49.15

49.70

50.24

50.75

51.24

. 51. 73

52.20

52.67

53.09

53.50

53.90

54.28

54.64

Boys

38.62

39.49

41.05

42.35

43.44

44.32

45.04

45.67

46.19

46.64

47.04

47.39

48.20

48.79

49.23

49.59

49.91

50.19

50.41

50.64

50.84

51.02

51.19

51.35

51.50

51.64

51.78

51.89

Girls

38.02

38.89

40.17

41.23

42.24

43.10

43.82

44.44

44.96

45.40

45.78

46.12·

46.91

47.52

48.00

48.41

48.74

49.04

49.29

49.52

49.72

49.90

50.06

50.25

50.36

50.49

50.1?1

50.72

13

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80

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Age in years

Figure 9. SMOOTHED MEANS FOR LENGTH

14

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Age in years

Figure 10. SMOOTHED MEANS FOR, WEIGHT

5

15

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Age in years

FigurlZ 11. SMOOTHED MEANS FOR CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE

- --1.6

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30

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 2

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Age

I I 3

in years

L_Ll 11 I I I 4

I I I I I I I I I I 5

Figure 12. SMOOTHED MEANS FOR HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE

17

em (length, chest, head.) (weight> kg

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Age in years

Figure 13. SMOOTHED MEANS FOR LENGTH, WEIGHT. CHEST AND HEAD

Sig.4

18

COMPARISON OF BOY AND GIRL GROWTH VELOCITIES

The growth patterns, as indicated by quarterly increments (see Table 2), show, for both boys and girls, the very rapid growth in the first year and its gradual decline to approximately 1 c~ntimetre per quarter, the rate of growth which is maintained for the remainder of the child's early years (cf. 1969 Survey on Height and· weight of School Children, page 7) until the growth spurt at the .onset of puberty.

The pattern of growth for weight resembles· that for length, a swift increase declining in rate to about 2 to 3 kilograms per year. This rate of gain stays fairly constant from just under 2 years old until the age of 8 to 9 years (cf. 1969 Survey, p.15).

Figure 16 shows that the increment of growth in chest circumference may be, in fact, negative or nil. This is more likely in the fourth and fifth years, when height and weight go on increasing but chest circumference remains constant or declines. (This loss in chest circumference may be what is commonly referred to as "losing baby fat").

TABLE 2. QUARTERLY INCREMENT IN MEAN LENGTH (CENTIMETRES)

Age Boys Girls

Years Months Increment Std. Error Increment Std. Error

0 3 9.1 0.28 7.6 0.33

0 6 5.0 0.19 5.3 0.20

0 9 4.3 0.20 4.0 0.19

1 0 3.8 0.26 3.7 0.26

1 3 3.1 0.36 3.3 0.31

1 6 3.0 0.40 2.7 0.43

1 9 2.5 0.40 3.4 0.44

2 0 2.6 0.38 2.4 0.44

:2 3 2.0 0.37 2.2 0.45 2 6 2.2 0.43 2.6 0.36

2 9 1.9 0.46 2.4 0.38

3 0 2.3 0.41 1.8 0.43

3 3 1.2 0.43 1.4 0.33

3 6 1.5 0.43 1.6 0.45

3 9 2.0 0.43 2.3 0.45

4 0 2.1 0.46 1.0 0.41

4 3 1.0 0.44 2.1 0.43

4 6 2.1 0.43 1.5 0.50

4 9 0.2 0.76 1..0 0.55

19

TABLE ,3 •. QUARTERLY INCREMENT 'IN MEAN WEIGHT (KILOGRAMS )

Age BOys Girls

Years Months Increment Std.Error Increment Std.Error

0 3 2.5 0.07 2.0 0.08

0 6 1.7 0.06 1.7 0.06

0 9 1.2 ,0.08 1.0 0.07 :

1 0 0.8 , ,0.11 0.9 0.11 ,

1 3 0.7 0.13 0.5 0.13

1 "

6 ' 0.6 0.14 0.7 0.14

1 9 0.5 0.16 0.7 0.15

2 0 0.4 0.,15 0.3 0.17

2 3 0.5 0.14 0.6 . 0.18

2 6 0.7 0.16 0.4 0.17

2 " :, 9 0.3 0.19 1.1 0.19

3 0 0.5 ,0.18 0.3 0.24

3 " 3 0.5 0.18 0.3 0.23

3 6 0.1 0.20 0.4 0.21

3 9 1.1 0.21 0.6 0.21

4 . 0 0.5 0.21 0.2 0.22 4 : 3 -0.1 0.;21 0.8 0.22

4 ,6 0.8 0.20 0.3 0.22

4 9 0.3 0.27 0.5 0.28

4'

20

TABLE 4. QUARTERLY INCREMENT IN MEAN CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE (CENTIMETRES)

Age Boys Girls


0 3 5.1 0.19 4.3 0.20

0 6 3.0 0.10 3.0 0.14

0 9 2.0 0.15 1.8 0.16

1 0 1.1 0.20 1.1 0.21

1 3 0.8 0.24 0.6. 0.25

1 : . 6 0.5 0.25 0.6 0.28

1 9 0.8 0.25 0.7 0.28

2 0 0.1 0.25 0.4 0.28

2 .. 3 0.5 0.24 0.6 0.27 2 6 0.9 0.25 0.7 0.24

2 9 0.1 0.28 0.9 0.29

3 .. 0 0.7 . 0.26 0.1 0.31 3 3 0.5 0.26 0.3 0.28

3 6 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.33

3 9 0.7 0.25 1.1 0.34

4 0 0.3 0.28 -0.4 0.28

4 3 -0.1 0.28 0.8 0.28

4 6 0.9 0.26 0.4 0.32

4 9 0.0 0.36 0.7 .0.36

21 .. ,

TABLE 5. QUARTERLY INCREMENT IN MEAN HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE (CENTIMETRES)

Age Boys Girls


'0 3 4.2 0:13 3.7 0.15

0 6 2.5 0.09 2.4 0.09

0 9 1.5 0~09 1.5 0.10 '

1 0 1.0 0.13 0.9 0.14

1 3 0.6 0.17 0.8 0.17

1 6 0.7 0.18 0.4 0.17

1 9 0.4 0.18 0.6 0.17

2 0 0.2 0.17 0.4 0.17

2 3 0.2 0.15 0.0 0.18

2 6 0.3 0.19 0.6 0.16

2 9 0.4 0.21 0.4 0.16

3 0 0.3 0.17 0.0 0.15 .

3 3 0.1 0.16 0.0 0.18

3 6 0.2 0.17 0.3 0.20

3 9 0.3 0.15 0.2 0.18

4 0 0.3 0.15 -0.1 0.16

4 3 -0.1 '0.16 0.2 0.17

4 6 0.2 0.18 0.3 0.18

4 9 0.2 0.22 0.1 0.18'

em

9 BOYS GIRLS ---

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

OL-____! ____~~__~____~____~_____L_____L_____L____~____~____~____~____L_____L_____L___~~__~____~____~ o 2 3 4

Age In years

Figure 14. QUARTERLY INCREMENT IN MEAN LENGTH

kg 3

BOYS -GIRLS

2

':

\

\

\

\

\ \ /I \_- I \

I \ I ,

I \ I ,

'.---....

Age in years

Figure 15. QUARTERLY INCREMENT IN MEAN WEIGHT

em , BOYS 51 GIRLS -

I I

!

i I21 I I I !

1'

o Age in years

Figur

em BOYS

GIRLS5

4

\ \ \ \ \

3 \ \ '\ ~ or.:>

26

WEIGHT -LENGTH RATIO

Weight standards in relation to length show the ratio of mean weight to mean length for eaeh age group.

TABLE 6. RATIO OF MEAN WEIGHT TO MEAN LENGTH (kg/em)

Age Group New Zealand 1973

Years Months Boys Girls

0 1- 0.085 0.083

0 2- 0.095 0.091

0 3- 0.106 0.099

0 4- 0.113 0.105

0 5- 0.1l7~ 0.112

0 6- 0.124 0.118

0 7- 0.128 0.122

0 8- 0.131 0.124

0 9- 0.134 0.126

0 10 - 0.135 0.130

0 11- 0.137 0.130

1 0- 0.140 0.134

1 3- 0.143 0.134

1 6- 0.145 0.139

1 9- 0.146 0.142

2 0- 0.147 0.142

2 3 - 0.149 0.145

2 6- 0.153 0.146

2 9- 0.153 0.154

3 0- 0.155 0.154

3 3 - 0.158 0.155

3 6- 0.157 0.156

3 : 9 - 0.164 0.159

4 0- 0.165 0.158

4 3 - 0.163 0.163

4 6 - 0.167 0.164

4 9 - 0.169 0.167

----

---~ kg/em

--------------~--------------- .... ,

/'0-15 /' /'

-,-

0-10

0-05

Age in years

Figure 18. RATIO OF MEAN WEIGHT TO MEAN LENGTH

28

COMPARISON OF MAORI AND NON-MAORI PRE-SCHOOLCHILDREN

LENGTH

By referring to Tables 7 and 8 and their accompanying bar graphs, figures 19 and 20, it can be seen that there is no appreciable difference between Maori and non-Maori children. The apparently greater size of Maori boys in the first year is not significant statistically, nor is the apparently lesser length in the second or fourth year.

TABLE 7. LENGTH (CENTIMETRES) - BOYS

Age Group Maori Non-Maori

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error

o 1':' 26 56.3 2.68 0.52 180 56.0 2.83 0.21 o 2- 18 58.8 3.08 0.73 187 59.4 2.57 .0.19 o 3- 24 64.2 2.10 0.43 181 62.6 2.41 O.lS o 4- 21 65.8 ·2.12 0.46 175 65.6 3.20 0.24 o 5- 32 67.0 2.08 0.37 162 67.0 2.60 0.20 o 6- 19 68.5 1.69 0.39 197 68.9 2.77 0.20 o 7- 22 70.6 2.02 0.43 159 70.2 2.51 0.20

o • 8- 24 71.7 2.71 0.55 174 71.4 2.95 0.22

o g 24 73.8 2.58 0.53 159 73.3 3.13 0.25

O :10- 20 75.1 2.87 0.64 140 74.2 2.64 .0.22

o :11- 18 75.8 2.97 0.70 153 75.5 2.66 0.22

1 0.,- 15 78.3 1.90 0.49 161 7S.2 2.98 0.24

1 3- 28 80.4 3.62 0.68 166 S1.5 3.76 0.29

1 6- 21 82.9 2.66 0.58 156 84.5 3.43 0.27

1 9- 16 85.8 5.59 1.40 171 86.9 3.74 0.29

2 0- 22 89.1 3.54 0.76 174 89.4 3.53 0.27

2 3- 19 89.9 ·3.69 0.85 192 91.5 3.88 0.28

2 6- 25 91.7 4.18 0.84 165 93.9 3.97 0.31

·112 9- 92.7 5.31 1.60 163 95.7 3.84 0.30

3 0- 24 96.6 3.28 0.67 lSI 98.0 4.00 0.30

3 3- 19 97.9 3.92 0.90 172 99.3 3.91 0.30

3 6- 26 100.0 4.10 0.80 162 100.6 3.79 0.30

3 9- 24 100.6 4.71 0.96 188 102.7 3.8S 0.28

4 0- 26 103.6 3.80 0.75 153 104.8 4.53 0.37

4 3- 21 103.7 4.24 0.93 192 105.8 4.17 0.30

4 6- 21 107.0 3.86 0.84 149 107.8 4.13 0.34

4 9- 26 109.2 4.59 0.90 158 107.7 9.96 0.79

;?9

TABLE 8. LENGTH (CENTIMETRES) - GIRLS



o 1 19 55.6 3.23 0.74 159 55.9 2.28 0.18 o . 2 23 58.4 2.80 0.58 145 58.5 2.76 0.23 o 3 18 62.1 2.14 0.50 170 61.3 2.39 0.18 o 4' 23 63.9 2.45 0.51 189 63.4 2.74 0.20 o 5 20 65.7 2.08 0.46 175 65.3 2.77 0.21 o 6 26 67.9 1.94 0.38 160 67.1 2.87 0.23 o 7 25 70.0 2.34 0.47 183 68.7 2.67 0.20

o 8 23 70.7 ' 1. 70 0.36 145 70.2 2.58 0.21 o 9 28 71.5 , 2.83 0.54 146 71.4 2.46 0.2Q o :10 22 72.5 2.10 0.45 148 72.9 2.37 0.20

o :11 16 73.0 5.01 1.25 154 74.0 ,3.09 0.25 1 0 18 77.2 3.69 0.87 164 76.3 2.87 0.22

1 3 23 80.0 2.99 0.62 182 79.6 3.14 0.23

1 6 21 78.6 7.34 1.60 155 82.9 3.71 0.30

1 9 20 84.8 2.91 0.65 166 85.9 3.37 0.26

2 0 17 88.4 3.89 0.94 148 88.9 3.98 0.33

2 3':" 30 89.1 4.36 0.80 199 90.4 3.57 0.25

2 6-' 15 91.8 3.17 0.82 187 92.6 3.60 0.29

2 9 9 95.9 4.02 1.34 152 94.9 3.68 0.30

3 0 16 97.7 4.04 1.01 ,151 96.6 4.10 ,0.33

3 3 24 96.9 3.71 0.76 179 98.3 3.80 0.28

3 6 25, 97.6 5.53 1.11 148 100.1 4.32 0.35

3 9 27 101.7 3.66 0.70 164 102.1 3.89 0.30

4 0 21 102.4 3.74 0.82 160 103.2 4.16 0.33

4 3,':" 21 104.3 4.22 0.92 151 105.4 3.92 0.32

4 6 18 106.2 4.81 1.13 157 106.8 5.26 0.42

4 9 23 107.2 4.86 1.01 143 107.9 5.07 0.42

Length (em)

110

[] Maori ,..:.. 7

~100 Boys 90 - D Non-Maori - '8 " 80 f

70 f':':'1- 1'0r-, ~,::, r

t- r:::r.'..

"

"

"

" "

"

.. ..

0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0;5- 0:6- 0:7- 0;8- 0:9- 0;10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1:6- 1:9- 2:0, 2:3- 25- 2:9- 3:0- 3',3- 3'6- 3:9- 4:0- 4:3- 4:5- 4',9

t...ge group (years: mor;thsl

Length (c m)

110 .... Naori

100 f-

Girls '0" r:::Non-Maori r- ::: t

, 90 I

',', "

. .; ,

70 I-"

80 f

60 I- r~- " Jr- [

50 f"r "

40 f-"

30 I20 I

"

1~~I--="~="~~~"~[~~~~~:~:~~~-LL~~LL~"~~::~~~:~:~'~'~8"~~,,'~~,~,~:d':~~~"~~"LL~~"~'~'~,~'.'~~ 0,1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0:5- 0:6- 0:7- 0;8- 0:9- 0:10- 0:11- 1',0- 1:3- 1:6- 1:9- 2:0- 2:3-' 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 39- 4:0- 4;3- 4:6- 4;9

Age group (years: months)

Figure 19. MEAN LENGTH BY AGE GROUP

31

, WEIGHT

In the pre-school children there is no significant diffe~ence in weight between Maori and non-Maori. For boys the maximum difference is 0.6 kilograms, at 7 to 8 months old, an insignificant ,amount. The girls sample shows a 0.9 kilogram difference at this age, but, given a standard error of the mean of 0.45 that cannot be assigned any great importance~' The same holds true for 3-year-old girls where the difference is 1.4 kilograms, but the standard error is 1.01 kilograms.

TABLE 9. WEIGHT IN KILOGRAMS - BOYS


Yr Mth . Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error

o 1- 26 4.9 0.62 0.12 180 4.8 0.75 0.06 o 2- 18 5.6 0.75 0.18 187 5.7 0.69 0.05 o 3- 24 6.8 0.80 0.16 181 6.6 0.79 0.06 o 4- 21 7.5 0.91 0.20 175 7.4 0.95 0.07 o 5- 32 7.9 0.91 0.16 162 7.8 0.96 O.OB o 6- 19 8.2 0.87 0.20 197 8.6 0.99 0.07 o 7- 22 9.5 0.99 0.21 159 , 8.9 1.04 0.08 o 8- 24 9.2 1.07 0.22 174 9.4 1.09 O.OB o 9-' 24 10.1 0.96 0.20 159 9.B 1.23 0.10 o :10- 20 10.4 1.59 0.36 140 10.0 1.15 0.09

o :IF 18 10.6 1.14 0.27 153 '10.3 1.23 0.10

1 0- 15 10.5 1.08 0.28 161 '11.0 1.20 0.09

1 3- 28 11.6 1.26 0.24 166 11.7 1.37 0.11

1 6- 21 12.0 1.22 0.27 156 12.2 1.45 0.12

1 9- 16 12.7 1.34 0.34 171 12.7 1.59 0.12

2 0- 22 13.3 1.40 0.30 174 13.1 1.48 0.11

2 3- 19 13.3 1.45 0.33 192 13.6 1.46 0.10

2 6- 25 14.2 2.21 0.44 165 14.3 1.62 0.13

2 9- 11 14.7 2.70 0.82 163 14.7 1. 76 0.14

3 0- 24 14.9 1.80 0.37 181 15.2 1.71 0.13

3 3- '19 . 15~6 2.04 0.47 172 15.6 i.B5 0.14

3 6- 26 15.9 2.62 0.51 162 15.7. 1.85 0.14

\

3 9- . 24 16.6 2.02 0.41 188 16.8 2.22 0.16

4· 0- 26 17.0 2.22 0.44 153 17.4 2.0B . 0.17

4 3- 21 17.1 2.09 0.46 192 17.2 2.05 0.15

4 6- 21 17.8 1.31 0.28 149 . IB.O 2.00 0.16

4 9- 26 18.7 2.77 0.54 158 18.2 3.10 0.25

32

TABLE 10. WEIGHT IN KILOGRAM~ - GIRLS

Age .Group Maori Non-Maori

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Oev. std.Error Number Mean Std.Oev. Std.Error

o 1 19 4.5 0.76 0.18 159 4.6 0.74 0.06 o 2 23 5.3 0.71 0.15 145 5.4 0.73 0.06 o 3 18 6.2 . 0.68 0.16 170 6.1 0.71 0.05 o 4 23 6.6 0.83 0.17 189 6.7 .0.8.3 0.06 o 5 20 7.4 1.09 0.24 175 7.3 0.89 0.07 o ; .6 26 8.3 0.92 0.18 160 7.9 .1.08 0.08 o 7 25 9.2 2.26 0.45 183 8.3 0.68 0.05

o S 23 8.8 0.91 0.19 145 8.7 1.06 0.09

O :r 28 9.1 1.00 0.19 146 9.0 1.10 0.09 o :10 22 9.5 1.12 0.24 148 9.5 1.14 0.09

o :11 16 9.5 1.86 0.47 154 9.6 1.14 0.09 1 0 18 10.2 1.35 0.32 164 10.2 1.27 0.10

1 3 23 10.8 1. 79 0.37 182 10.7 1.24 0.09

1 & 21 10.9 -1.63 0.36 155 11.6 1.42 0.11

1 :r 20 12.5 '1.52 0.34 166 12.1 1.42 0,.11 2 : 0 17 12.3 1.40 0.34 148 12.5 1.54 0.13

2 3 30 12.8 2.05 0.38 199 13.2 1.64 0.12

2 6 15 13 .0 1.51 0~39 187 13.6 - 1.61 0.12

2 9-. 9 16.0 .3.02 1.01 152 14.6 1.89 0.15

3 0 16 15.0 2.06 0.51 151 14.9 1. 78 0.14

3 3 24 15.0 1.50 0.31 179 15.3 2.03 0.15

3 & 25 15.5 2.38 0.48 148 15.6 1.96 0.16

3 :r 27 16.2 2.28 0.44 164 16.2 1.90 0.15 4 0 21 16.7 1.69 0.37 160 16.3 2.20 0.17

4 3 21 17.3 1.44 0.31 151 17.1 1.94 0.16

4 & 18 18.0 2.27 0.54 157 17.4 2.13 0.17

4 9 23 18.4 4.81 1.00 143 18.0 2.49 0.21

Weight (kg)

20 m Maori

18

17

.19 L:;J

D Non-Maori16

15 Boys14

13 r12

11 ~r-Ir10

9 -:-: 8 ":'7

6

5

4r 3 2 1 O~~"~~~-L·~'-L~'~'-L~~~"~~"~~~~~LL'~'-L~LL~"~~"~~"~-L~LL~~-L~~~~'~'~~~~-L~'~'-L~"LL~~~'~'~~-L~~

0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0:5- 0:6- 0:7- 0:8- 0:9- 0:10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1:6- 1'9- 2:0- 2:3- 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 3:9- 4:.0- 4:3- 4'.6- 4:9


wWeight (kg) w

20 19

m ~ Maori

18 17 16 15

D Non-Maori Girls

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 rs:

~ ~ ~,.

O~~~~'~'-L~~LL~~"~~"LL~'~'~~"-LLl~~'~'J-LL~~·'LL~-L~-L~~~"~~"LL~"LL~'~'-L~-L~~~~~~~"LL~LL~~~"~

0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0:5- 0:6- 0:7- 0:8- 0:9- 0:10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1:6- 1:9- 2:0- 2:3- 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 3:9-.4'·0- 4:3- 4:6- 4',9


Figure 20. MEAN WEIGHT. BY AGE GROUP

34

CHEST CIRCUMF.ERENCE

As would be expected, the chest circumferences, like lengths and weights, showed no significant difference between Maori and non-Maori.

TABLE 11. CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE IN CENTIMETRES - BOYS

Age Group Haori Non-Maori

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std. Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error

o 1 26 36.7 1.96 0.38 180 37.3 2.33 0.17 o 2 18 39.0 2.67 0.63 187 39.4 2.16 0.16 o 3 24 41.4 2.37 0.48 181 41.0 2.25 0.17

o 4 21 43.2 1.91 0.42 175 42.3 2.32 0.18

o 5-: 32 43.6 2.36 0.42 162 43.2 2.42 0.19 o : :6 19 43.7 1.85 0.42 197 44.7 2.18 0.16 o 7 22 46.1 2.22 0.47 159 45.1 2.44 0.19 o 8 24 45.4 2.88 0.59 174 46.1 2.42 0.18 o 9 24 46.7 2.54 0.52 159 47.0 2.56 0.20

o :10 20 47.1 2.06 0.46 140 47.1 2.21 0;19

o :11 18 48.4 3.02 0.71 153 47.6 2.52 0.20 1 0 15 48.6 2.09 0.54 161 48.3 2.22 0.18

1 3 28 48.4 2.81 0.53 166 49.4 2.45 0.19

1 6 21 49.0 2.36 0.51 156 49.7 2.26 0.18

1 9 16 50.0 2.78 0.70 171 50.6 2.41 0.18

2 0: 22 50.0 2.37 0.50 174 50.6 2.48 0.19

2 3 19 50.6 2.02 0.46 192 51.1 2.44 0.18

2 6 25 51.8 2.32 0.46 165 52.1 2.54 0.20

2 9 11 52.8 2.81 0.85 163 52.0 2.60 0.20

3 0 24 52.4 2.49 0.51 181 52.8 2.53 0.19

3 3 19 53.7 2.67 0.61 172 53.1 2.59 0.20

3 6 26 54.3 2.44 0.48 162 53.4 2.28 0.18

3 9 24 53.8 2.74 0.56 188 54.3 2.62 0.19

4 0 26 55.0 3.07 0.60 153 54.4 2.88 0.23

4 3 21 53.9 3.66 0.80 192 54.4 2.42 0.18

4 6 21 55.4 1. 75 0.38 149 55.2 2.58 0.21

4 9 26 55.3 2.91 0.57 158 55.2 4.24 0.34

35

TABLE 12. CHEST CIRCT.JM1i'ERENCE IN CENTIMETRES - GIRLS


Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std. Error

o 1 19 36.4 3.57 0.82 159 36.7 2.10 0.16 o 2 23 38.4 1.96 0.41 145 38.5 2.18' 0.18

o 3 18 39.9 1.60 0.38 170 39.9 1.98 0.15 o 4 23 40.8 1.91 0.40 189 41.1 2.31 0.17 o 5 20 42.3 1.96 0.44 175 42.2 2.28 0.17 o 6 26 43.6 2.69 0.53 160 43.3 2.28 0.18 07 25 44.8 2.08 0.42 183 44.1 2.27 0.17

o 8 23 45.3 1.73 0.36 145 44.6 2.40 0.20

o 9 28 45.0 2.42 0.46 146 45.4 2.94 0.24 o :10 22 46.7 2.80 0.60 148 46.1 2.20 0.18 o :11 16 45.8 3.65 0.91 154 46.4 2.59 0.21 1 0 18 46.6 2.23 0.53 164 47.1 2.31 0.18

1 3 18 48.1 2.12 0.44 182 47.5 2.64 0.20

1 6 21 47.2 3.44 0.75 155 48.3 2.50 0.20

1 9 20 49.3 2.73 0.61 166 48.9 2.47 0.19

2 0 17 49.1 3.41 0.83 148 49.3 2.46 0.20

2 3 30 49.9 2.94 0.54 199 49.9 2.43 0.17

2 6 15 50.6 2.01 0.52 187 50.6 2.52 0.18

2 9-_ 9 53.2 3.73 1.24 152 51.4 2.89 0.24

3 0 16 52.0 3.75 0.94 151 51.6 2.45 0.20

3 3 24 52.2 2.35 0.48 179 51.9 2.84 - 0.21

3 6 25 52.5 3.53 0.71 148 52.3 3.58 0.29

3 9 27 54.4 2.40 0.46 164 53.0 2.87 0.22

4 0 21 53.4 2.55 0.56 160 52.7 2.63 0.21

4 3 21 53.7 2.47 0.54 151 53.6 2.64 0.22

4 6 18 54.8 3.06 0.72 157 53.8 3.20 0.26

4 9 23 55.8 5.76 1.20 143 54.2 2.76 0.23

Chest (em)

60

50

40

30

m8:8J

o Maori

Non-Maori

r Boys

m~ :::r" ;.:

?r" 0/. ..

IT~ 7r" ..

:::r- ':.: , ~ ~ ~

20 •••

.. ::: .

10

••• ••••

0:1

Chest (em)

0:2 0:3 0:4 0:5 0:6 0:7 0:8- 0:9 0:10- 0:11 1:0 1:3 1 6

Age group 1:9 2:0 2:3 2:6

(vears: mont hs) 2:9 3:0- 3:3 3:6- 3:9 4:0- 4:3 4:6 4:9

60

50

m1 w.J

o Maori

Non-Maori

Girls

r r::-:.

'?~ ""

TI :.:1~ :::'

40

30

...Sr '7:':"." ..

••••

20 •••

••• •••

10

o

".

.. 1 11 L.....L.;;.L.L..~.-L;;.;.l..""..!.....I.:.'.:L...L'~~." ~ •• ' ---L.I.':..:L.J..'~f...l-t..:.I......1:4-!~!~.'~~=-..!.':.-t..:..L""-J....J.:.".:J...-L.....L.;..:L.J 0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- G:5- 0:6- 0:7- O:B- 0:9- 0:10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1:6- 1"9- 2:0- 2:3- 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 3:9- 4:0- 4:3- 4:6- 4:9


Figure 21. MEAN CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE BY AGE GROUP

37

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE

The comparison of Maori and non-Maori children of pre-school age has shown no really significant differences for height, weight, or chest circumference. For girls there is ' likewise 'no significant difference between Maori and non-Maori. On the other hand, although figure 22 does 'not show this effectively, the head circurnfererlCes of Maori boys' are significantly smaller than' for non-Maori boys. The standard deviations are quite small for both groups individually and often larger for the two groups combined (see Table 26).

These results may, therefore, indicate a genuine genetic ~ifference. It'is'possible that this ,difference stems from a different rate of growth.

TABLE 13. HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE IN CENTIMETRES - BOYS


Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev., Std.Error

o 1- 26 38.8 1.26 0.25 180 38.6 1.55 0.12

o 2- 18 39.8 1.22 0.29 187 40.3 1.,49 0.11 o 3- 24 41.8 1.41 0.29 181 41. 7 1.68 0.12 o 4'" 21 42.7 1. 73 0.38 175 43.0 1.43 0.11 o 5- 32 43.6 1.27 0.22 162 43.7 1.44 0~11 o 6- 19 44.3 1.23 0.28 197 44.8 1.39 0.10 o 7- 22 45.5 1.30 0.28 159 45.2 1.62 0.13 o 8- 24 45.9 1.52 0.31 174 46.0 1.37 0.10 o 9- 24 46.5 1.03 0.21 159 46.6 . 1.j5 0.11 o :10- 2.0 47.1 1.16 '0.26 .140 46.7 1.43 0.12

o :11- 18 46.8 1.41 0.33 153 47.1 1.40 0.11

1 0- 15 47.0 ' 0.99 0.26 161 47.9 1.62 0.13

1 • 3- 28 47.5 1.49 0.28 166 48.6 1. 70, 0.13 ,

,I 6- 21 48.4 1.05 0.23 156 49.2 1.71 0.14

1 9- 16 48.8 1.84 0.46 171 49.6 1.80 0.14

2 0- 22 49.3 1.12 0.24 174 49.8 1.58 0.12

2 3- 19 49.3 1.35 0.31 192 50.0 1.53 0.11

2 6- 25 50.. 1 1.95 0.39 165 50.2 2.25 0.18

:2 9- 11 49.7 2.92 0.88 163 50.,6 ,1.64 0.13 '3 0- 24 50.5 1.56 0.32 181 50.9 1.50 0.11

3 3- 19 50.9 1.57 0.36 172 50.8 1.69 0.13

3 6- 26 51.0 1.33 0.26 162 51.0 1.65 0.13

3 g- 24 50.6 1.57 0.32 188 51.3 1.43 0.10

4 O- ,26 50.7 1.57 0.31 153 51.8 1.48 0.12

4 3- '21 .51.1 1.60 0.35 192 51.5 1.65 0.12

4 6- 21 50.9 1.31 0.28 149 51.7 1.83 0.15

4 g- 26 51.6 1.32 0.26 158 51.8 2.44 0.19

38

TABLE 14. HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE IN CENTIMETRES - GIRLS



o 1 19 37.7 1.39 0.32 159 38.0 1.52 0.12 o 2 23 40.4 2.42 0.50 145 39.5 1.58 0.13 o 3 18 40.6 1.43 0.34 170 40.7 1.15 0.09 o 4 23 41.3 1.53 0.32 189 . 41. 7 1.32 0.10 o 5 20 42.9 1.19 0.27 175 42.7 1.35 0.10 o 6 . 26 43.4 1.52 0.30 160 43.5 1.18 0.09 o 7 25 44.0 1.04 0.21 183 44.1 1.38 0.10 o 8 '.23 44.8 1.13 0.24 145 44.7 1.39 0.12

o 9 28 45.1 1.55 0.29 146 45.1 1.98 0.16 o :10 22 45.3 1.02 0.22 148 45.7 1.38 0.11 o :11 16 45.2 2.34 0.58 154 46.0 1.42 0.12 1 0 18 46.2 1.19 0.28 164 46.6 1.68 0.13

1 3 23 47.6 1.24 0.26 182 47.2 1.67 0.12

1 6 21 46.7 2.90 0.63 155 47.9 1.13 0.09

1 9 20 48~1 2.12 0.47 166 48.2 1.33 0.10

2 0 17 48.6 1.40 0.34 148 48.6 1. 79 0.15

2 3 30 . 48.3 1.76 0.32 199 48.6 1. 76 0.12

2 6 15 > 49.3 1.09 0.28 187 49.2 1.64 0.12

2 9 9 49.3 1.20 0.40 152 49.6 1.39 0.11

3 0 16 49.5' 0.77 0.19 151 49.6 1.35 0.11

3 3 24 49.4 1.60 0.33 179 49.7 2.14 0.16

3 6 25 49.9 2.72 0.54 148 50.3 1.45 0.12

3 9 27 50.1 1.48 0.29 164 50.2 1.72 0.13

4 0 21 50.1 1.21 0.26 160 50.1 1.37 0.11

4 3 21 >49.5 2.30 0.50 151 50.3 1. 70 0.14

4 6 18 50.4 1.53 0.36 167 50.6 1.51 0.12

4 9 23 50.6 1.62 0.34 143 50.7 1.60 0.13

••••

•••

• •••

•••

•• • ••

Head (em)

60 r 10?1 t:;,:,;;J Maori Boys

50 D Non-Maori r":'I-Ii::) r.:,:,::::

40

30 :;:

:.' •••• •••

~ ~ j :-: 10

~ ~

o L-~:::~:~~~~~'~'~~~"~~~~~~~~~~~~::: 0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0:5- 0:6- 0,7- 0:8- 0:9- 0:10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1: 6- 1:9- 2:0- 2:3- 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 3:9- 4:0- 4:3- 4:6- 4:9


Head (em)

60 Maori

Non-Maori

OJ Girls

40

50 o r8 :::

30 .. ..

:-: ::: ..

::~~:~:~~tLL~I~!~~LL~;~:~~~:~:~~~8~,~~}~~···~:~·~;~LL~~~·:~~::' 0:1- 0:2- 0:3- 0:4- 0:5- 0:6- 0:7- 0:8- 0:9" 0:10- 0:11- 1:0- 1:3- 1'6- 1:9- 2:0- 2:3- 2:6- 2:9- 3:0- 3:3- 3:6- 3:9- 4:0- 4:3- 4:6- 4:9

Age group (years months)

Figure 22. MEAN HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE BY AGE GROUP

40

Table 15, below, shows however, that the mean head circumference is smaller over most of the five years covered by this su~ey. The differences of the Maori'sub-sample from the non-Maori sub-sample are compared by using the't test.*

TABLE 15. COMPARISON OF HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE IN MAORI AND NON-MAORI BOYS

Age Difference Year Month in Means t Value Significance'

0 l~ 0.3 0.79 None

0 4~ -0.3 -0.84 None

0 7~ 0.3 0.92 None

0 10~ 0.3 0.94 None

1 ll.:! -0.9 -2.02 95% level

1 4~ -1.1 '-3.16 99% level

1 7~ -0.9 -2.21 97% level

1 101.:! -0.8 -1.67 90% level

2 II.:! -0.4 -1.24 ~None

2 4!.:! -0.7 -1.82 93% level

2 71.;. -0.1 -0.22 None

2 10!.:! -0.9 -1.69 90% level

3, l~ -0.4 -1.09 None

3 4~ 0.1 0.25 None

3 7J,. 0.0 0.05 None

3 10J,. -0.8 -2.42 98% level

4 l~ -1.1 -3.36 99% level

4 4~ -0.3 -0.89 None

4 71.:! -0.8 -1.91 98% level

4 10!.:! -0.3 -0.56 None

The high degree of Maori/non-Maori intermarriage makes one reluctant to attribute a genetic cause to this phenomenon. Two factors, however, argue for the genetic explanation:

1. The difference shows up in boys only.

,2., Historical evidence shows that Maori men (but not women) were

no~d to have smaller head circumferences. The pictures by

Lindauer reproduced on the following page show the definiteiy

pyramidal skull shape of most of the men Lindauer has painted.

* ' The formula used here (supplied in the supplements to the SPSS package) is, for populations with common variance

2

where ~d

Where the populations appear to have unequal variances this value is adjusted by adjustment to the degrees of freedom.

Explanations alternative to the genetic luust rest upon social-nutritional factors. The nutritional evidence can hardly be thought to have affected head size (the least sensitive area of measurement) without making any difference to weight or chest circumference. This rules out dietary habits (or the possible effect if, for example, Maori boys were weaned earlier than girls) •.

The smaller head circumference does not, in fact, indicate smaller skull capacity (pace Thompson, Story of New Zealand, Vol. 1, pp.8l-86, 1859) nor has either of these measurements been demonstrated to have any statistically meaningful relationship with mental development.

.43

,COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS SURVEY

The considerable difficulties in measuring a random_san~le of pre-school children probably accounts for the 'infrequency of such surveys. In New Zealand no recent surveys are available for children aged two to five years. Table 16 shows the comparison of the 1944 study by Deem and Silverstone* with the 1973 information on children under one year.

TABLE 16. MEAN LENGTHS AND WEIGHTS OF NEW ZEALAND_ INFANTS, 1944 & 1973

,Age in Weeks 1944 Length 1973 Length 1944 Weight 1973 Weight

Boys

61:!-7 55.9 56.0 4.70 4.78

11 59.1 59.4 5.47 5.68

15 61.0 62.8 6.19 6.64

19-19/..! 63.5 65.6 6.86 7.39

24 66.0 67.0 7.51 7.81

28 67.6 68.9 ' 8.16 8.52

33 69.8 70.3 8.78 8.99

37 71.1 71.4 9.20 9.36

41 72.4 73.5 . 9.60 9.89

45 73.7 74.3 9.94 10.13

50 74.3 75.6 10.28 10.36

Girls

6~-7 55.2 55.9 4.48 4.66

11 57.2 58.5 4.96 5.35

,15 59.7 61.5 5.81 6.12

,19-19/..! 62.2 63.4 6.40 6.65

24 64.1 65.5 7.11 7.29

28 65.7 67.2 7.62 7.94

33 67.9 68.9 8.14 8.42

37 69.2 70.3 8.70 8.72

41 70.5 71.4 9.12 9.03

45 71.8 72.9 9.49 9.48

50 73.3 73.9 9.92 9.58

'" H. Deem and H. Silverstone t-, "The, Growt'h~' of New Zealand' Infants During the First Year of Life",'N.Z. Medical Journal, 1944. Note the comparative information there in Table VI, p.17, where different investigators showed N.Z. children behind U.S.A. children for the first six months but ahead thereafter.

75

44.

em

kg 70 11

10

65 9

8

60 7

N.l. 1973 N.Z. 1944

6

55 5

4

50 3

;r~,L'L,~,~I~'~'~,~'~ILI~'~'~I_li~I~'LILI~I~I~I~I~I_I~ILILI~I~I~I~I~ILLILILI~I~I~I~I~I_!LLI~~~ILIL-_1r~'o

o 10 20 30 40 50

Age in weeks

Figure 23. MEAN HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF. N.Z. ·INFANTS IN 1944 .AND 1973 -:- BOYS

75

45

em

70

50

kg

11

10

4

.3

·~c IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'IIIIIII'IIIIIIIIII'IIII! I I'll I I II fo

o 10 20 . 30 40 50

, Age ir weeks' , . Figure 240 MEAN HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF

NoZo INFANTS IN 19'44 AND 1973'-GIRLS

46

COMPARISON WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

The sizes of New Zealand pre-school children are no different from those of children from comparable countries.

The tables and graphs that follow compare the children surveyed in the 1973 New Zealand survey with:

1. Tasmanian children from birth to three years (coy, Lewis, et.al., 1973).

2. British children (as reported by Tanner, Whitehouse and Takaishi, 1966).

3. American children:

(a) from the North Central Region as reported by Fryer, Lamkin, et. a1., 1972~

(b) from California, a paired sample of black and white children from homogeneous middle class background and with equal access to medical care (reported by Wingerd, Schoen and Solomon, 1971) showing no difference between the races;

(c) a large representative sample from 'the whole country

(reported in AJPH, November 1973 Supplement).

TABLE 17. LENGTH (MEANS AND MEDIANS) - NEW ZEALAND AND OVERSEAS BOYS

Age in United Kingdom United states of America Tasmania N.Z. Weeks

California North 1973 Black White Central

6 55.7 55.1 56.1 57:5 55.9 56.0

15 61.9 61.6 62.2 63.0 62.8

28 68.9 68.2 68.5 69.5 68.9

41 73.3 72.6 72.9 74.7 73.5

52 76.3 75.5 75.8 76.S '76.2 76.2

65 79.4 78.6 79.1 79.1 79.8

78 82.1 81.5 82.0 81.8 S1.5 82.8

91 84.6 84.3 84.5 84.4 84.6 85.5

111 88.0 88.3 88.6 89.4

137 92.2 92.7 92.6 93.4

156 95.2 95.7 95.6 96.5 . 96.6

lS2 99.0 99.6 99.6 99.S

208 102.6 103.4 102.7 103·4

241 106.9 107.9 107.0 ,107.7

This uniformity is not too surpr~s~ng. Variations grow with increasing age. These young children are more like their comparable populations overseas for this reason. It may be that the 1972 North Central figures given here are short by up to 1 em. from age two onwards. Standing height was measured (cf. Davidson, Passmore and Brock Human Nutrition and Dietetics (1972), p. 472, "Over the range 110 em. to lSO em• ••• recumbent length exceeds height by an average of 0.5 em•.••• for boys and 1.1 em•••• for girls").

47

TABLE 18. LENGTH (ME~S AND MEDIANS) -; NEW ZEALAND AND OVERSEAS GIRLS

Age in United Kingdom United States of America Tasmania N.Z. Weeks California North 1973

Black White Central

6 54.5 54.3 55.0 56.1 54.6 55.9

15 60.1 60.8 60.4 61.3 61.5

28 66.3 66.6 66.8 67.0 67.2

41 70.9 71.2 71.1 72.3 71.4

52 74.2 74.3 74.2 75.2 75.6 74.6

65 77 .6 77 .6 77.6 78.1 78.0

78 80.5 80.6 80.5 80.3 80.0 81.0

91 83.2 83.1 83.1 82.6 83.6 84.0

111 86.7 86.3 87.6 87.9

137 91.0 90.9 90.7 92.6

156 94.0 94.0 94.2 95.3 95.8

182 97.8 98.2 98.6 98.9

208 101.4 102.5 102.0 102.6

241 105.1 106.5 107.0 106.8

48

Just as with the heights, th~ co~parison.of New Zealand with other countries for weights of pre-school children shows, again, that there is not much question of malnutrition in New Zealand.

TABT..E 19. WEIGHT (MEANS AND MEDIANS) NEW ZEALAND BOYS

Age in United Kingdom United States of America Tasma.nia N.Z. Weeks

California' North 1973 Black White Central

6 4.7 4.8 4.7 5.5 4.8 4.8

15 5.9 6.5 6.7 6.5 6.1

28 8.1 8.4 8.4 7.4 8.5

41 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.0 9.9

52 10.2 . 10.3 10.4 10.6 10.9 10.6

65 11.0 ·11.1 11.2 11.1 11.3

78 11.6 ,11.8 11.8 11. 7 11.4 11.9

91 12.2 12.3 12.3 12.3 12.1 12.5

III 13.0 13.1 12.7 13.1

137 14.0 14.2 14.0 14.3

156 lA.7 14.9 14.2 15.4 14.9

182 15.6 15.9 15.3 15.7

208 16.6 17.0 16.3 17.0

241 17.7 18.4 17.5 18.0

TABLE 20. WEIGHT (MEANS AND M.~DIANS) NEW ZEALAND GIRLS

Age in Uni t,ed Kingdom United States of America Tasmania N.Z. Weeks Ca.1ifornia North 1973

Black White Central

6 4.3 4.5 4.4 4.9 4.4 4.7

15 5.6 6.1 6.1 5.9 6.1

28 7.6 7.8 7.8 8.1 7.9

41 8.9 8.9 8.9 9.3 9.0

52 9.7 9.7 9.7 10.0 10.2 9.9

65 10.4 10.5 10.5 10.7 10.5

78 11.1 11.2 11.2 11.0 11.0 11.1

91 11. 7 11.8 11. 7 11.3 11.3 11.8

III 12.5 12.3 12.1 12.4

137 13.5 13.5 13.4 13.5

156 14.3 14.2 14.1 14.6 14.8

182 15.2 15.3 14.9 15.4

208 16.3 16.9 15.9 16.3

241 17.8 18.0 17.4 17.5

These length and weight results should be compared with those reported by Habicht, Martore11, et. al. in the Lancet, April 6, 1974: New Zealanders, Maori and non-Maori clearly fall in thp. we11-to-do~tbnic group.

http:co~parison.of

49

em 110~------------------------------------------------------~

100

90 16

~ .. ' d.··· 15

d.··· 0."

0.···80 14 ~ .. '

13

70 12

11

N.Z. 60 U.S.A.-- - 10

u.~.......... .

9

50 8

7

40~ /:,:: . 6 / .:

: . 5

./.

~ , I, , I, , I o

" I, , I, , I" 1

I, , I, , I , , I, , I, , I, , I" 2 3

I, , I, ,1, ,I, , I, , I, Yo 5

Age in years

Figure 25. AVERAGE LENGTH AND WEIGHT, N.Z. AND OVERSEAS - BOYS

50

em· . 110

100

90 16 f..,

/' ;/ 15

'./.Y

.Y80 ~ 14

WEIGHT.7'

J I

6/ ~ 13

/"/

"

70

/ / 12

//'"' 11

N.Z. U.SA- -- 10 . U.K. ...........•

9

50 8

7

40 6

~:'I I d ,I ,II I ,III II I I ! I I I II I ! I I I I I I 1:1 II II I'll I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II fo o . 1, 2. 3 4 5

Age in years

Fi'gur'e 26. AVERAGE LENGTH-AND WEIGHT, N. Z.ANDOVERSEAS·..,... GIRLS

51

Studies incorporating measurements of chest circumference"are not frequent. The only comparable measurements available are from the study by Stuart and Meredith, and even there the circumference was measured at mid-expiration, ,whereas the 1973 New Zealand study was measuring at the end of ~xpiration.

TABLE 21. CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE - NEW ZEALAND AND OVERSEAS , , '

Boys Girls Age in Stuart & Stuart &N.Z. N.Z.Months Meredith Meredith

3 40.2 40.6 39.2 39.8

6 44.0 43.7 42.8 43.0

9 46.5 46.0 45.0 45.4

12 48.0 47.6 46.7 47.0

15 48.8 48.6 47.3 47.9

18 49.4 49.5 47.9 48.8

24 50.5 50.8 49.1 50.1

30 51.6 51.7 50.3 51.2

36 52.4 52.4 51.6 51.9

42 53.4 53.1 52.0 52.5

48 54.3 53.7 53.0, 53.1

54 54.8 54.4 53.7 53.7

"

TABLE 22. HEAD CIRCUMFERENCES' (MEANS AND MEDIANS) ~ NEW zEA.LruID AND OVERSEAS, BOYS

Age in New Zealand Nellhaus Stuart & United States Fiji Months non- Composite Meredith 1971 1969

Maori Maori' Scale White Black Black

1~ 38.6 38.6 38.2 38.4 38.1

31:1 41.8 41.7 41.2 41.4 41.5 41.4 40.5

6l:! 44.3 44.8 44.2 44.2 44.4 44.2 42.4

9~ 46.5 46.6 46.0 46.0 46.0

12 46.9 47.3 47.0 47.3 47.1 47.0 44.0

18 47.9 48.9 48.2 48.7 48.8 48.6 45.6

24 49.1 49.7 49.0 49.7 49.6 49.6

36 50.2 50.7 50.6 50.0 47.9, 47.6

48 50.6 51.6 51.0 50.4 48.4

54 51.0 51.6 51.2 48.7

52

TABLE 23. HEAD CIRCUMFERENCES (MEANS AND MEDIANS) - NEW ZEALAND AND OVERSEAS, GIRLS

Age in ' New Zealand Nellhaus Stuart & ~nited States Fiji Months non- Composite Meredith 1971 1969

Maori Maori Scale White Black Black

1~ 37.7 38.1 37.0 37.6 37.4

3~ 40.6 40.7 40.0 40.5 40.4 40.4 39.0

6~ 43.4 43.5 43.0 43.1 43.0 43.2 41.9

~ 45.1 45.1 45.0 44.8 44.8 45.• 0

12 45.5 46.2 46.0 45.8 45.8 46.1 43.0

18 47.1 47.5 47.2 47.1 47.5 47.8 45.6 44.2

24 48.4 48.3 48.0 48.1 48.3 48.8 45.0

30 48.8 48.9 48.8 46.8

36 49.4 49.6 49.3 49.3 47.0

42 49.6 49.9 47.1

48 50.1 50.1 50.1 47.6

54 50.0 50.5 48.0

When seen in comparison with other studies the Maori and non-Maori differences are not nearly so great as those between the advantaged and disadvantaged (1969 Blacks and 1971 Blac~s in the U.S.A. or the Fiji Indians compared with anyone else). ,It must be concluded, therefore, that serious nutritional factors have not contributed to the Maori/non-Maori difference in the boys, especially since the other body measurements show no difference.

52

40

53

cm

_... ....., 50 ---

-.--------:-:.-::-:. . . .

-: :-.-:-.-. . . .. .

----48 '"

.",/

/

// .... ,"".": 0" .•

.....~ ....'"

.; .

...-- ,:-------.--'" "

. "," ..----------------

46 ....-"""'

44

42 /

/ /

/ /

/ / /'

BOYS --Non Maori ----Maori ..... ·White •• • • Black --Fijian Indian

.6C~I~~I~ILL~LL~LI~I~~-L~~I~I~~I~I~·LI~I-LI~I~I-LI~I~ILLI~LI±1~1-L~LL~LL~Li;~ILLi-LL~LI'~I~ILL),I-Ld1I o 1 2 3 45'"

Age in years

cm 52

50

48

46

" ..../ "

" .'" ./ 0 ./" .. .

/ . ..' /. .'

/ ..... "/..

. ' .. ' .

. . . ' . . ' .

;-;~-~~.~:--.'! .' .. ' .

44

42

GIRLS

- Non Maori --- Maori ...... white •••• Black --Fijian Indian

40

oL l 0

I I 1

I 2

I I I I I

Age

I I I I I I in years

I I 3

I I I 4

I 5

Figure 27. AVERAGE HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE, N. Z. AND OVERSEAS

54

ACKNOWLE DGE ME NT 5

Drs Begg, Mackay and Salmcnd wish te'record their personal appreciation to.

Dr E.E. Davidge,and Miss D.J. Van de Zande ef the Family Health Branch fer their work in

planning, crganising and carrying cut the study and to. Dr J.A. Reinken and

Messrs A~H;Carr and F.S. McParland, the team frem the department's Management Services

and Research Unit, fer their technical and prefessicnal help.

The permissien ef the publishers, A.H. and A.W. Reed, and the ewner, Auckland City

Gallery, to. repreduce the Lindauer paintings appearing on page 41 is also. gratefully

acknowledged.

55

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bell, Thomas W. (1890). Medical notes on New Zealand. N.Z. med. J. 4 Jan. and April 67-83 129-145.

Buck, Sir Peter H. (1925). The coming of the Maori, by Te Rangi,Hiroa. Cawthron Lectures 2, no. 2 : 17-56.

Buck, Sir Peter H. (1950). The coming ,of the Maori, by Te Rangi Hiroa. Wellington, Whitcombe & Tombs.

Coy, J.F. and others (1973). The growth of Tasmanian infants from birth to tru:ee years of age. Med. J.Aust. 2: 12-18.

Davidson, Sir Leybourne S.P. and others (1972). Human nutrition and dietetics. 5th ed. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone.

Deem, H. and Silverstone, H. (1944). Growth of New Zealand infants during the first year of life. N.Z. med. J. 43: 9-22.

Ellis, Richard W.B. (1966). Child health and development 4th ed. London, Churchill.

Fryer, Beth A. and others (1972). Growth of pre-school children in the North Central Region. J. Amer. diet. Ass. 60 : 30-37.

Habicht, J.-P. and others (1974). Height and weight standards for pre-school children. How relevant are ethnic differences in growth potential? 1, no.7858 : 611-615.

Jansen, A.A.J. (1971). Skull growth from birth to adulthood in Indians, Fiji. N.Z. med. J. 74: 241-245.

Jelliffe, Derrick B. (1966). The assessment of the nutrition status of the community (with special reference to field surveys in developing regions of the world). (World Health Organization. Monograph series, no. 53). Geneva, World Health Organization.

Lindauer, Gottfried (1965). Maori paintings, pictures from the Partridge Collection of paintings ed. by J.C. Graham. Wellington, Reed.

McKay, D.A. and others (1971). Nutritional assessment by comparative growth achievement in Malay children below school age. Bull. WId Hlth Org. 45, no. 2: 233-242.

Nellhaus, Gerhard (1968). Head circumference from bir~h to eighteen years. Pediatrics 41: 106-114.

Nellhaus, Gerhard (1970). Head circumference growth in North American Negro children, (letter to the 'Editor) Pediatrics 46: 817-819.

Tanner, J.M. and others (1966). Standards from birth to maturity for height, weight, height velocity, and weight velocity. British children, 1965. Arch. Dis. Childh. 41: 613-635.

Thomson, Arthur S. (1859). The story of New Zealand, vol. 1. London, Murray.

Watson, Ernest H. and George H. Lowrey (1958). Growth and develOpment of children 3rd ed.' Chicago, Year Book Publishers.

Wingerd, John S. and others (1971). Growth standards in the first two years of life, based on measurements of white and black children in a pre-paid health care program. Pediatrics, 47: 818-825.

World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific (1969). The ,health aSpects of food and nutrition: a manual for developing countries in the Western Pacific region of the World Health Organization. Manila.

56

APPENDIX A

MEAN LENGTH, WEIGHT, CHEST AND HEIGHT

57

T.Al3LE 24. LENGTH (CENTIMETRES)

Age Group All Boys Length in Centimetres All Girls Length in Centimetres

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error •

o 1- 206 56.0 2.80 0.20 178 55.6 2.39 0.18 o 2- 205 59.4 2.62 0.18 168 58.5 2.76 0.21 o 3- 205 62.8 2.43 0.17 188 61.4 2.37 0.17 o 4- 196 65.6 3.10 0.22 212 63.4 2.71 0.19 o 5- 194 67.0 2.52 0.18 195 65.3 2.71 0.19 o 6- 216 68.9 2.69 0.18 186 67.2 2.76 0.20 o 7- 181 70.1 2.45 0.18 208 68.8 2.66 0.18 o 8- 198 71.4 2.92 0.20 168 70.2 2.48 0.19 o 9:" 183 73.3 3.06 0.22 174 71.4 2.52 0.19 o :10- 160 74.3 2.68 0.21 170 72.9 2.34 0.18

o :11- 171 75.6 2.68 0.21 170 73.9 3.31 0.25

1 0- 176 78.2 2.90 0.22 182 76.4. 2.96 0.22

1 3- 194 81.3 3.75 0.27 205 79.7 3.12 0.22

1 6- 177 84.3 3.39 0.25 176 82.4 4.49 0.34

1 9- 187 86.8 3.93 0.29 186 85.8 3.33 0.24

2 0- 196 89.4 3.52 0.25 165 88.2 3.96 0.31

2 3- 211 91.4 3.89 0.27 229 90.0 3.70 . 0.24

2 6- 190 93.6 4.05 0.29 202 92.6 3.57 0.25

2 9- 174 95.5 4.00 0.30 161 94.9 3.70 0.29

3 0- 205 97.8 3.94 0.28 167 96.7 4.09 0.32

3 3- 191 99.0 3.88 0.28 203 98.1 3.81 0.27

3 6- 188 100.5 3.83 0.28 173 99.7 4.58 0.35

3 9- 212 102.5 4.02 0.28 191 102.1 3.85 0.28

4 0- 179 104.6 4.44 0.33 181 103.1 4.11 0.31

4 3- 213 105.6 4.21 0.29 172 105.2 3.96 0.30.

4 6- 170 107.7 4.10 0.31 175 106.8 5.20 0.39

4 9- 184 107.9 9.40 0.69 166 107.8 5.04 0.39

58

TABLE 25. WEIGHT (KILOGRAMS)

Age Group All Boys. Weight in Kilograms All Girls weight in Kilograms

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std. Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error

o 1 206 4.8 0.73 0.05 178 4.6 0.74 0.05 o 2 205 5.7 0.69 0.05 168 5.4 0.73 0.06 o 3 205 6.6 0.79 0.06 188 6.1 0.71 0.05 o 4 196 7.4 0.95 0.07 212 6.7 0.83 0.06 o 5 194 7.8 0.95 0.07 195 7,.3 0.91 0.07 o 6 216 8.5 0.98 0.07 186 7.9 1.03 0.08 o 7 181 9.7 1.05 0.08 208 8.4 1.04 0.07 o 8 198 9.4 1.09 0.08 168 8.7 1.04 0.08 o 9 183 9.8 1.20 0.09 174 9.0 1.08 0.08 o :10 160 10.1 1.21 0.10 170 9.5 1.14 0.09 o :11 171 10.4 1.22 0.09 170 9.6 1.22 0.09 1 0 176 10.9 1.19 0.09 182 10.2 1.27 0.09

1 3 194 11.6 1.36 0.10 205 10.7 1.30 0.09

1 6 177 12.2 1.43 0.11 176 11.5 1.46 0.11

1 9 187 12~7 1.57 0.12 186 '12.2 1.43 0.11

2 0 196 13.1 1.47 0.11 165 12.5 1.52 0.12

2 3 211 13.6 1.46 0.10 229 13.1 1. 70 0.11

2 6 190 14.3 1.86 0.13 202 13.5 1.61 0.11

2 9 174 14.6 1.82 0.14 161 14.6 1.98 0.16

3 0 205 15.2 1.72 0.12 167 14.9 1.80 0.14

3 3 191 15.7 1.87 0.13 203 15.2 1.98 0.14

3 6 188 15.8 1.96 0.14 173 15.6 1.68 0.15

3 9 212 16.8 2.20 0.15 191 16.2 1.95 0.14

4 0 179 17.3 2.10 0.16 182 16.4 2.14 0.16

4 3 213 17.2 2.05 0.14 172 17.2 1.89 0.14

4 6 170 18.0 1.93 0.15 175 17.5 2.16 0.16

4 9 184 18.3 3.06 0.23 166 18.0 2.91 0.23

59

TABLE 26. CHEST CIRCUMFERENCE (CENTIMETRES)

Age Group All Boys Chest Circumference in All Girls Chest Circumference in Centimetres Centimetres

Yr Mth . Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error

o 1 206 37.2 2.29 0.16 178 36.7 1.88 0.15

o 2 205 39.4 2.20 0.15 168 38.5 2.15 0.17 o 3 205 41.1 2.26 0.16 188 39.9 1.96 0.14 o 4 196 42.4 2.30 0 •.16 212 41.1 2.27 0.16 o 5 194 43.3 2.41 0.17 195 42.2 2.24 0.16 o 6 216 44.6 2.17 0.15 186 43.4 2.33 0.17 o 7 181 45.2 2.43 0.18 208 44.2 2.25 0.16 o 8 198 46.0 2.48 0.18 168 44.7 2.33 0.18 o 9 183 46.9 2.56 0.19 174 45.3 2.86 0.22 o :10 160 47.1 2.19 0.17 170 46.2 2.28 0.18 o :11 171 47.7 2.58 0.20 170 46.3 2.70 0.21 1 0 176 48.4 2.21 0.17 182 47.1 2.30 0.17

1 3 194 49.2 2.52 0.18 205 47.6 2.59 0.18

1 6 177 49.7 2.28 0.17 176 48.2 2.65. 0.20

1 9 187 50.5 2.44 0.18 186 48.9 2.50 0.18

2 0 196 50.6 2.47 0.18 165 49.3 2.57 0.20

2 3. 211 51.1 2.40 0.17 229 .49.9 2.50 0.17

2 6 190 52.0 2.75 0.19 202 50.6 2.48 0.18

2 9 174 52.1 2.61 0.20 161 51.5 2.96 0.23

3 0 205 52.7 2.52 0.18 167 51.6 2.59 0.20

3 3 191 53.3 2.60. 0.19 203 51.9 2.79 0.20

3 6 188 53.5 2.32 0.17 173 52.1 3.57 0.27

3 9 212 54.2 2.63 0.18 191 53.2 2.85 ·0.21

4 0 179 54.5 2.91 0.22 181 52.8 2.62 0.20

4 3 213 54.3 2.57 0.18 172 53.6 2.61 0.20

4 6 170 55.2 2.49 0.19 175 54.0 .3.18 0.24

4 9 184 ,55.2 4.07 0.30 166 54.7 3.36 0.26

60

TABLE 21. HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE (CENTIMETRES)

Age Group All Boys Head Circumference in All Girls Head Circumference in Centimetres Centimetres

Yr Mth Number Mean Std.Dev. Std.Error Number Mean Std.Dev. 'Std"Error

o 1 206 38.6 1.52 0.11 178 38.0 1.50 0.11 o 2 205 40.3 1.41 0.10 168 39.6 1.74 0.14 o 3 205 41.7 1.65 0.12 188 40.7 1.18 0.09 o 4 196 43.0 1.46 0.10 212 41. 7 1.35 0.09 o 5 194 43.7 1.41 0.10 195 42.8 1.33 0.10 o 6 216 44.7 1.38 0.09 186 43.5 1.23 0.09 o 1 181 45.2 1.59 0.12 208 44.1 1. 34 0.09 o 8 198 46.0 1.39 0.10 168 44.7 1.36 0.11

o 9 183 46.6 1.31 0.10 114 45.1 1.91 0.15 o :10 160 46.8 1.40 0.11 110 45.7 1.35 0.10 o :11 171 47.1 1.40 0.11 110 45.9 1.54 0.12 1 0 176 47.8 1.59 0.12 182 46.5 , 1.64 0.12

1 3 194 48.4 1.71 0.12 205 47.3 1.63 0.11

1 6 177 49.1 1.66 0.13 176 41.7 1.49 0.11

1 9 187 49.6 1.82 0.13 186 48.2 1.43 0.11

2 0 196 49.7 1.54 0.11 165 48.6 1.60 0.12

2 3 211 49.9 1.52 0.11 229 48.6 1. 76 0.12

2 6 190 50.2 2.22 0.16 202 49.2 1.61 0.11

2 9 174 50.6 1.15 0.13 161 49.6 1.38 0.11

3 0 205 50.8 1.51 0.11 167 49.6 1.31 0.10

3 3 191 50.9 1.68 0.13 203 49.7 2.08 0.15

3 6 188 51.0 1.60 0.12 173 50.0 1.68 0.13

3 9 212 51.3 1.46 0.10 191 50.2 1.68 0.12

4 0 179 51.6 1.53, 0.11 181 50.1 1.35 0.10

4 3 213 51.5 1.65 0.11 172 50.2 1.80 0.14

4 6 110 51.6 1.19 0.14 175 50.6 1.51 0.11

4 9 184 51.8 2.31 0.17 166 50.7 1.60 0.12

61

. APPENDIX B

GROWTH OF NEW ZEALAND INFANTS

DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE

BY

H. DEEM AND H. SILVERSTONE

REPRINTED FROM THE NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL, 1943 : PAGES 9-22

62

G1'owth of N.Z. Infants D!tring Fil~St Ye

----

63

10 NEW ZEA.LAND MEDICAL JOURNAL.

considered to have made normal progress and who showed no serious defects. As one of t.he 'main objects of this in'vestigation was to construct a growth curve which would serve as a guide to the progress of normal infants, it was deemed advisable to construct the standard curve from the measurements obtained for "clinically satisfactory" cases only.

Of the 8,984 infants examined, 7,293 were classified as "satisfactory," 278 as "borderline satisfactory," and 1,413 as "unsatisfactory."

Tables I and II show (1) the mean average observed weights of the "clinically satisfactory," "borderline satisfactory," and "unsatisfactory" cases, and that of all infants examined in the different age groups, (2) the numbers examined in each group.

TAllLE J. Observed Average Weights. Boys.

All Bors Age SRtisfnctory Unsatisfactory s~~fisi;i;'-t'-)l;)' l~xamiB\!d '

in -- W,'~. ozs. nUliueti J1;8. ozs.

-~ III 8 0 1 fi 10 - - 112 Ii 0

5 1i!) 9 5 11 7 ]3 1 7 ]~ Hit !I 4

7 ](;5 ]0 5 17 Ii 11 1 11 ]3 lS:! 10 3

!I lila 11 tl '.!7 II ;; 5 l! 1:1 :.!:.!7 11 :!

11 ]85 12 H 32 ]0 l:! 7 ]] a :.!:!·l l" 3

]3 ]M3 13 :! :{5 11 2 8 I:! 0 :.!'2U ]"' I:{

]~ Hi:! ]3 H :)0 Jl J!1 H 12 7 ~I~I 1:{ H

17 l{lO H l:~ :3:\ 12 7 4 1~ ].I lH7 H 7

III 1!i(i 15 10 25 13 Ii Ii 13 H llJ7 Hi ;)

21 lnO 11\ 1-1 3'1 H 1 l:l ].I ]3 2-10 11\ It

:!:l ]76 111 1l 15 13 H 5 H S Hit> HI H

:!a 1411 17 :! :!H ]1 10 7 ]5 !l ]Ha ](; ]:!

'27 173 ]7 K 21 15 4 2 1;; :\ JHH 17 :)

:!H 15:l ]8 2 1.1 ]5 :! 1 l ' i fl JOn 17 ]f) ;n 181 ]H 8 II 16 of - - - WO 1:-i H

;)3 Hi) IS ]:J 21 IG 7 5 ], :! 171 IH II

:J" 132 ! ]H 8 11 lS H -- J-If! 1!l II

:l7 no ]!l 11 ] ~l ]7 5 4 17 H ];l!l. 1ft 7;m ]~" 20 R 22 lR H H' In t; 1'.:1 '20 -I

-11 12H 21 0 :?R HI 10 4 ~o [I 1m, 20 III

43 l;!t 21 8 ?l HI 1 4 lH 1H:! 21 :!., -Jii lQ~ 21 :10 2() 5 8 2(1 S ]H5 47 135 22 3 47 20 4 12 :!IJ Ii l!H !!l 11

-, 14 :!1 7 .)..-10 l;!O 11 27 111 11 7 2() HI 1M ~2 :I

.).)1\1 128 ~3 3 !W 20 II 7 :.?~ 3 Hit l:l 53 ll1 2;J 5 '21 1!l 14 2 21 5 III 12 12I

~---.-

Total 3,02tJ I 623 l:lO -l.U7S

'l'MILE II. Observed Average lVeigllts.

Girls.

All Girls Ag~ Satisfactory Unslltisfaetory l!fi~~

64

G"owth of N.Z. Infants During First Year.-DEEM & SILVERSTONE 11

Constrlletwn of a Growth Gurve front the Mep.n Observed Weights of tlle Clinioolly Sa.tisfactory Cases.

It was necessary to find a suitable form of curve to which these average figures could be fitted. Usually. a growth curve assumes a "logarithmic" form. but, as other investigators have found, no suitable curve of this nature could be discovered. Instead, it was necessary to fit a parabola to the data. Such a curve was found to be:-y = 113.223 + 7.836x - 0.0574:1: 2 where y is the weight in ounces and x the age in weel,s,

A similar 'procedure for the weights of girls yielded the curve:-y=116,665+ 6,430x O,0351x2•

,Owing to the initial loss in weight which occurs dUI'ing the first few days after birth it was not surprising t(l find that in both cases the curves did Hot fit closely to the observed average weights in the early weeks, the observed weights lying well below the fitted curve. Separate curves were thel'eforc drawn to pass through the observed average weights at 2 weeks and to fit as closely as possible to the observed averages at 3, 5 and 7 weeks. From 9 weeks on, the cu·rves a.lready obtained were used. The curves for the lower extremities were found to be:-y = 110.862 + 6.030x + 0.26941;2 for the boys, and y = 106.146 + 6.023x + O.2021x2 for the girls.

Assessing the average initial loss in weight as 8 ounces in the first 3 or 4 days, the curves and tables were thus completed. The curves are valid for the first 12 months of life only, and not beyond.

Chart I shows the sllloothed curves constrllcted from the means 'Of the observed weights for boy.!> and girls respectively. The dots represent the mean observed weights. '

CHART I.

1424 2323

,- 2222 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

II)

C Z ;:) 0 a..

~ ... ::t ~ iii ~

,~

A ~

, , -" ,-'... ",'.. ,

80Y5_ Girls _______

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

1 I II

10 10

9 8

AGE IN WEEKS 9 8

7 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52

7

Showing the smoothed average weight curves for ,boys and girls re-specth'ely, and the observed a\'erage weights at fortnightly intel'\'als.

It will be noticed that the deviations in the first half of the year tend to be above the smoothed curve, while in the latter six months they tend to be below it. Such small deviations are inseparable from the use of tile curve made to conform with a simple mathematical formula,

The composite curve, for b'oys and girls was obtained by av~raging the cUI'ves for boys and girls, a procedure justified by the fact that in tile population as a whole the numbers of boys and girls at any age are approximately equal.

The lengt.hs 'of ,the infants' were measured along with their weights, tabulated as before and fitted to parabolic curves.

http:lengt.hs

6.5

]2 NEW ZEALAND MEDIC.c1L JOFRNAL.

The following table gives the new standard smoothed weight and length 'meaf:Ul'elllents for New Zealand boys and girls dudng their first yea I' of life.

TAIIL" III. ],

66

1·',Cl"oleth of N.h. In/ants During First ¥e'ar.-J)EE1II & SILVEHS'l'OKE .J

CHART II

3M 8M Showing R comparison between elin\(,ully satisfactot'y """'S and nil eas('"

exal!lillCd, as well as the Clln'e previoll,;Iy u~ed 11;1' Ih.e Hociel)'.

growth curve such that 75 per cent of infants at any given 'age nlay be expected to lie within the limits corresponding to that age,"

The selection of a zone including 75 per cent of infants, rather than ?ny otllel' percentage, may appear somewhat arbitrary, but it happens that such 'a percentage leads to a ,zone which coincides largely with a zone suggested by Holt on the basis of practical experience, and moreover it has certain special advantages (see later).

For the construction of the zone use was made of the smoothed means ami standard deviations. It can be shown that 75 per cent of the individual weights at any age may be expected to lie within a distance of 1.15 times the standard devi:ltion for that age above 01' below the average. Consequently, the upper and lower limits of the 75 per cent growth curve can be determined for all ages for ',which the'means and standard deviations are known.

Separate zones were thus constructed for boys and girls, and a ,composite zone for boys and girls together was obtained from these. The latter is shown in Chart III. The heavy central line Is the average growth curve fol' boys

67

14 NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL.

and'girls together, This chart has now replaced the old weight CI11\rt in thf3 Society's record books and on the case sheets.

CHART III

22

21

"*,+-+-+-+--119

--~+-4--r-+--118

-f-t--I--1' 11

-~+-4--i 16

" 9

-I+f-t-+-4-+-+~ 6

5~AGE2 4 ~ 8 10 12 I. l~ Ie :

68

Gro~cth of N.Z. Infants During, First Yem·.-:-DEEM & SILVERSTONE 15

groups were obtained from different individuals. In order to compare the two different methods of selection, 500 New Zealand infants were weighed and measured without clothing by the nurses at fortnightly intervals throughout their first yeaI'. The mean observed weights for age were very similar indeed to those produced in this paper; therefore it. is maintained that the results obtained by the different methods of sampling are comparative,

When determining average birth weights Stuart selected the records of those infants whose birth weights were 5lbs. or ovel', whereas in this investigation no birth weights under 6lbs. were included in the computations. This discrepancy in sampling has made but slight difference, Stuart's average figure being 7lbs. 90zs:, whereas the New Zealand figure is 7lbs. 10 ozs. 'I'his finding is not surprising as there are relatively few babieR born whose birth weights are between 5 and 6 Ibs.. Clements excluded the records of all prematures and twins, and gives 8 lbs. as his average birth weight for Australian infants. No average birth weight is recorded ill \Voodbury's paper.

'I'he following tables give the mean observed weights for age recorded by different. workers.

TABLE IV.

Sholcing tlle Mean Observed., Weights Ol!tainea tor the F'b'st Year at Lite by Different Investigators.

Boys.

Age Deem. Deem.

All Boys Examined

Clements, Australian

Boys

Stuart. American

Boys

Ibs. ozs. Ibs. ozs. Ibs. ozs. lbs. 07.S. Birth

2 weeks 4 6 8

10 12 "

7 7 8 9

10 11 12

12* 12* 11 13 14 14 12

7 7 8 9

10

12* ]2* 10 12 11

8 8 9

10 11 11 12

2 9 5 2 0

12 7

7 10

13 (3 months) 13 2 12 14:1: 12 13

14 weeks .. '16 18 20 22 24

13 14 15 ]5 16 16

8 6 '4

12 5

15

13 13 14 15 15 16

4 15

8 2

11 2

26 (6 months) 17 5 16 9 17 3

28 weeks 30 32 34 36 38

17 ]8, 18 19 ]9 20

13 5

11 3

10 2

17 17 18 18 18 19

3 10

1 8

14 4

39 (9 months) 20 8 19 8:1: 20 6

40 weeks 42 44 46 48 50

20 21 21 22 22 22

12 4

11 1 7

15

20 20 21 21 21 22

7 14 5 9

15 8

19 20 20 20 21 21

11 0 6

11 1 6

52 (12 months) 23 4 22 12 21 12 22 ]0

*Intants regarded as normal at the Queen Mary Hospital. :t: Interpolated weight.

'

69

Hi NEW ZRAL.4ND .lfEDICAL JOUR.VAL.

TABLE V.

Showing tile ]lean Observed lreights Olltaineil for the First Year of Ufe , by Different lllvcstiyators.

Girls.

Age Deem.

[Sal J Deem.

ry All Girls Clements. Australian

Slum'!. American

Girls Examined Girls Girls

Ibs. ozs. lbs. ozs. lbs. ozs. lbs, ozs. Birth · . ... 7 8* 7 8* 7 14 7 8 2 weeks ., · . 4 .. ·. .. 6 .. .. ·.

7 8 9

7" 6 6

7 8 9

7* 6 6

8 9 9

3 0

13 8 .. .. · . 10 5 10 3 10 10

10 12 " .. .. .. · . ·.

11 12

3 0

10 11

15 11

11 12

7 1

-13 (3 months) 12 6 12 0 12 7t 12 6

14 weeks 16 " 18

" 20 .. 22

" 24 ..

.. · . · . · . .. · . ·. .. .. · . ·. · .

12 13 14 14 15 15

13 10

6 15

5 11

12 13 13 14 15 15

7 3

15 9 1 8

12 13 14 14 15 ]5

13 6 1

11 4

12

26 (6 months) 16 5 16 1 16 4 17 5

28 weeks .. .. 16 15 16 9 16 11 30 32 34 36 38

.. .. .. .. ..

·. .. .. · . ' . .. .. .. .. ..

17 17 ' 18 18 19

6 14

4 12

5

16 17 17 18 18

15 8

15 6

15

17 17 ]8 18 18

2 9 0 6

12

39 (9 months) 19 8 19 2 18 15t 19, 9

40 weeks 42 .. H " 46 "

.. · , .. ..

.. · , · . .,

19 20 20 20

12 5

10 13

19 19 20 20

6 14

1 5

19 19 19 20

1 18 12

1 48 " 50 .. ' 52 (12

"'Infants regarded as normal at the Queen Mary Hospital.

t Interpolated weight.

The entries in the fir'5t two columns were obtained by lin~ar interpolation in Tables I and II; Le. the average weight for 4 weeks was obtained by averaging the entries for 3 and 5 weeks in Table I (fol' boys) and Table II (for girls); and so on, It can be shown that the elTOl'S invoh'ed through this method were insignificant. (In the case of satisfactory boys. for instance, it can be shown that out of the 26 interpolated entries 19 will have an enol' of .~ ounce or less, 4 will have an errol' lying between ~ ounce and 1 ounce, and 3 will have an error of between 1 and 11 ounces.)

In order to compare one growth curve ,with another, it ~vas necessary to smooth all observed weights which had not already been smoothed, Table VI gives It comparison bdwcen the resutls obtained by WoodbUry, Clements, Deem (satisfactory cases). DQem (all cases) and Stuart.

70

Growth of N.Z. Tnfallts During First Ye((/'.-DEEM & SILVERS'l'ONE .17

'fABLE VI.

Comparison oj flle Smoothed Weig1lts for ,tge OlltoillerZ by Difje1'enf

I Ill;eslil/nt aI's.

Weights in Pounds and Ounces.

flirth ;~ ~1"lItht: H ~f"lIths l~ MOlltlw

"" Ill\"f'sti· Sf':> "" ::: ,g':ltor 1:'~ .. \\'('1'" .. \ Vt~r- A"er

a; ugc ng~ age

--

Id In"(""'~~ I~i I "\\..'r-l~l ~ age I~~ ;;:;,; I~~ k~ . !~~

1:l~;j 1U~;;Bors lHj~15 l:l1~O \\"f)()tlbul'), 1:)",13 lll-G 11>-11 ~(HJ(l;rls ]:1-3 ]5-12 Hi--l 1!l-l:!I

~(lIal't

Boys

(Hris

.13

jH5 7-]0

";-7 7-U

1::5

1!!l

12--14 l:!--l:l

]2-11

1l~

J:ll

17-2 17-1

Hi-Ji',

119 :!0--6

1:l'.! l!}-H ZO-:!

: 117

]""'", _. 22-10

:!1-1:! 22-3

(:I"meuts I

Boys I:1f;fl Oil'is ; :!:!l

8-2

7-11 $-0

1:1-11

l:!-d l:!-S

,51-iiJ

tiO:!

HHl

Hi-a 16-6

H)-II

If>-O J!i-5

5Wi, :!l-!J

,,«I :!0--15 :11-1

! 1'.'(,111 ":"::11 isfadol'yH ~'asl'l'5

Boys

!:iris

1:145 : :!;m

7-1:!

j-S 7-10

1/;:1 1:!-J.I

156 1')-') J::!-s

11il 117-(~ 11\1 IHI-:; 11;-],1

111\

Hi

:!O-I:.? ~()-3

1!J--1O

•HlHl ~~-15

fi-I""-I" - :!~-10 '.

Ilpl'lH ,\ II (':lS('8 .·~fimiHl'(l

.-12):,,~·s I:!~51 (;;,'Is 1:!55 I 7-8 7-Hl

:!:W 112-11

:!tlHll~o I

]2-0

I Hin 117-3

11-0110-:! I

17:1 ]6-11

l:n I

20-7

In-5 ]!}-H

137 :!:!-8

1:12 21-5 ~t-15

Churt IV shows a comparison of the smoothed weights of the different inl'estigators (boys and girls t.ogel.her).

GCIII!ml Tellriellcy of l1u; CllfI:es,

A glance at Chart IV shows tlw.t there is a definite similarity between the Cllrves or the different inn::stigators, and for the first

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