title: Secular trends in body height and body mass in 19-year-old Polish men based on six national surveys from 1965 to 2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to determine whether an intergenerational trend toward increased stature is slowing down, and whether body weight has recently increased among young men in Poland, as it has in Western European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were taken from six national surveys of 19-year-old Polish male conscripts from cohorts 1965, 1976, 1986, 1995, 2001, and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean stature of this population increased throughout the last 45 years from 170.5 cm in 1965 to 178.3 in 2010. However, the average gain in stature per decade declined from 2.4 cm in the period 1965 to 1976 to 0.8 cm per decade in 1995 to 2001, but increased to 1.0 cm in the last period. The average of body weight increased from 63.2 kg in 1965 to 73.1 in 2010 and body mass index (BMI) rose from 21.73 to 22.94 in the same period. The tempo of increase varied in different periods; between 1965 and 1986 an insignificant increase was observed (of circa 0.12); in 1986 to 1995 there was no increase, whereas the period of 2001 to 2010 witnessed a significant increase (of circa 0.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The trend of body size and stature increase within the Polish population, although decelerating, remained positive and steady during the last 45 years. No significant impact of the past half-century's socioeconomic crises was observed in these measures of growth. We concluded that during the economic crises some effective mechanism protecting the living conditions of the children and youth were operating within the population.
authors.affiliation: Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Podwale 75, 50-449, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kołodziej
authors.affiliation: Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Podwale 75, 50-449, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Łopuszańska
authors.affiliation: Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Podwale 75, 50-449, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lipowicz
authors.affiliation: Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Podwale 75, 50-449, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szklarska
authors.affiliation: Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Podwale 75, 50-449, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bielicki
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D011044:Poland; D011057:Politics; D012621:Seasons; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult