title: Ontogenetic development of skinfold thickness of the trunk in childhood and its relation to Rohrer's index.
abstract: The study was aimed at the investigation of the ontogenetic development of thickness of five skinfolds on the trunk in children ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 15 years in relation to Rohrer's index of body fullness. The studies which yielded the basic data were carried out in 1976-1978 on 10,661 children of both sexes (5,322 girls; 5,339 boys) from the whole territory of Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic. The studies yielded the following results: In the course of the early postnatal ontogenesis all five investigated skinfolds of the trunk showed on the average a slight decrease up to the age of three to five years. However, subsequently the thickness of all skinfolds increased, more markedly in girls than in boys. Throughout the investigated period the thickness of all investigated skinfolds remained larger in girls as compared to boys. This difference increased with increasing age. A more marked increase of mean skinfold thickness with increasing age due to the larger amount of subcutaneous fat was present in both sexes in abdominal regions and in in distal parts of the thorax as compared to its upper part, where the increase was more marked than in the subscapular region. The calculated mean values of Rohrer's index of body fullness were systematically decreasing in both sexes throughout the investigated period of life regardless of the development of the measured skinfold thickness. An exception formed the last two age groups of girls (13-14, 14-15 years of age), where, obviously with the onset of increasing total body weight, the calculated mean values showed again only a very slight increase. The actual differences of skinfold thickness and thus possibly also of the amount of subcutaneous fat between individual populations probably were due rather to social and economic factors. However, satisfactory nutrition was observed not only in highly developed, but also in some underdeveloped communities. However, it was not possible to exclude the influence of ethnical factors. This was confirmed by the comparison of our results with the data obtained in primitive rural populations as well as with those ascertained in highly developed countries in industrial populations.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001824:Body Constitution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012885:Skinfold Thickness