Growth of children living in the outskirts of Ankara: impact of low socio-economic status.
BACKGROUND
Most studies of the growth of Turkish schoolchildren are limited to large cities and to subjects from high socio-economic background. Very little is known about growth and development of rural, suburban and low socio-economic children in Turkey.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to compare height and weight of school-aged children of low socio-economic background with available growth data from high socio-economic strata, and to verify the possible influences of three socio-demographic parameters on their growth.


METHODS
The sample consisted of 1,052 girls and 1,223 boys, aged between 7-17 years, living in the outskirts of Ankara, a suburban area of poor socio-economic background. Centile distributions for height and weight were estimated by the LMS-method. ANOVA and Student's t-test were used to compare mean z-scores for height and weight among the various categories of the socio-demographic parameters.


RESULTS
Children living in the outskirts of Ankara have lower mean values for height and weight when compared with growth data of upper socio-economic strata children. The differences were most pronounced during adolescence. Skinfolds were higher in girls than in boys at all ages (largest p = 0.007). There was no clear relationship between growth and the number of siblings, the number of rooms in the house, the mother's and father's education, and the father's professional status (p > 0.05), except for the height of girls (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
It is suggested that the lower growth status of children living in the outskirts of Ankara is attributable to the poor socio-economic status of this suburban population, which has not changed over the past decades. It is postulated that the growth impairment during adolescence might be due to a reduced tempo of growth in these children.
Gültekin
Timur
T
Faculty of Letters, Department of Anthropology, University of Ankara, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey. tgul@humanity.ankara.edu.tr
Hauspie
Roland
R
Susanne
Charles
C
Güleç
Erksin
E
D000293:Adolescent; D049628:Body Size; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018881:Suburban Health; D013383:Suburban Population; D014421:Turkey