Diurnal height variations in growth of children: effects of gravity.
Many specialists in various scientific fields are interested in human growth and development of body sizes of children as a physiological phenomenon. However, our knowledge on human growth has not yet reached a solid foundation and consensus, and at present gravity potential is known to be a lasting condition that influences human lives in various ways. Therefore, more basic research is needed by examining detailed processes of human growth on the earth, with the effect of gravity in prospect. Although modern human growth study is constructed mainly on the basis of observations at one-year intervals, whether such long-interval observations can reveal a true statistical model of human growth is questionable. Togo and Togo (1982, 1989) observed growth in five siblings at one-month intervals for more than 15 years and found fluctuations observed from the start to the end of growth observations consisted of trend, regular, and irregular factors. This indicates the importance of examining human growth by short-interval observation. Thus, our study focused on diurnal variations of height, measuring twice daily, and discusses the effects of gravity on growth of children.
Kobayashi
M
M
National Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan.
Kobayashi
M
M
Tanaka
T
T
Uchiyama
Y
Y
Togo
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors