@article{BoginHermanussenScheffler2018, author = {Bogin, Barry and Hermanussen, Michael and Scheffler, Christiane}, title = {As tall as my peers}, series = {Journal of biological and clinical anthropology}, volume = {74}, journal = {Journal of biological and clinical anthropology}, number = {5}, publisher = {Schweizerbart}, address = {Stuttgart}, issn = {0003-5548}, doi = {10.1127/anthranz/2018/0828}, pages = {365 -- 376}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Background: We define migrants as people who move from their place of birth to a new place of residence. Migration usually is directed by "Push-Pull" factors, for example to escape from poor living conditions or to find more prosperous socio-economic conditions. Migrant children tend to assimilate quickly, and soon perceive themselves as peers within their new social networks. Differences exist between growth of first generation and second generation migrants. Methods: We review body heights and height distributions of historic and modern migrant populations to test two hypotheses: 1) that migrant and adopted children coming from lower social status localities to higher status localities adjust their height growth toward the mean of the dominant recipient social network, and 2) social dominant colonial and military migrants display growth that significantly surpasses the median height of both the conquered population and the population of origin. Our analytical framework also considered social networks. Recent publications indicate that spatial connectedness (community effects) and social competitiveness can affect human growth. Results: Migrant children and adolescents of lower social status rapidly adjust in height towards average height of their hosts, but tend to mature earlier, and are prone to overweight. The mean height of colonial/military migrants does surpass that of the conquered and origin population. Conclusion: Observations on human social networks, non-human animal strategic growth adjustments, and competitive growth processes strengthen the concept of social connectedness being involved in the regulation of human migrant growth.}, language = {en} } @misc{SchefflerBoginHermanussen2020, author = {Scheffler, Christiane and Bogin, Barry and Hermanussen, Michael}, title = {Catch-up growth is a better indicator of undernutrition than thresholds for stunting}, series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {1}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-55049}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-550495}, pages = {12}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Objective: Stunting (height-for-age < -2 SD) is one of the forms of undernutrition and is frequent among children of low- and middle-income countries. But stunting perSe is not a synonym of undernutrition. We investigated association between body height and indicators of energetic undernutrition at three critical thresholds for thinness used in public health: (1) BMI SDS < -2; (2) mid-upper arm circumference divided by height (MUAC (mm) × 10/height (cm) < 1·36) and (3) mean skinfold thickness (SF) < 7 mm and to question the reliability of thresholds as indicators of undernutrition. Design: Cross-sectional study; breakpoint analysis. Setting: Rural and urban regions of Indonesia and Guatemala - different socio-economic status (SES). Participants: 1716 Indonesian children (6·0-13·2 years) and 3838 Guatemalan children (4·0-18·9 years) with up to 50 \% stunted children. Results: When separating the regression of BMI, MUAC or SF, on height into distinguishable segments (breakpoint analysis), we failed to detect relevant associations between height, and BMI, MUAC or SF, even in the thinnest and shortest children. For BMI and SF, the breakpoint analysis either failed to reach statistical significance or distinguished at breakpoints above critical thresholds. For MUAC, the breakpoint analysis yielded negative associations between MUAC/h and height in thin individuals. Only in high SES Guatemalan children, SF and height appeared mildly associated with R2 = 0·017. Conclusions: Currently used lower thresholds of height-for-age (stunting) do not show relevant associations with anthropometric indicators of energetic undernutrition. We recommend using the catch-up growth spurt during early re-feeding instead as immediate and sensitive indicator of past undernourishment. We discuss the primacy of education and social-economic-political-emotional circumstances as responsible factors for stunting.}, language = {en} } @article{SchefflerBoginHermanussen2021, author = {Scheffler, Christiane and Bogin, Barry and Hermanussen, Michael}, title = {Catch-up growth is a better indicator of undernutrition than thresholds for stunting}, series = {Public health nutrition : PHN / The Nutrition Society}, volume = {24}, journal = {Public health nutrition : PHN / The Nutrition Society}, number = {1}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, address = {Cambridge ; New York, NY}, issn = {1475-2727}, doi = {10.1017/S1368980020003067}, pages = {52 -- 61}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Objective: Stunting (height-for-age < -2 SD) is one of the forms of undernutrition and is frequent among children of low- and middle-income countries. But stunting perSe is not a synonym of undernutrition. We investigated association between body height and indicators of energetic undernutrition at three critical thresholds for thinness used in public health: (1) BMI SDS < -2; (2) mid-upper arm circumference divided by height (MUAC (mm) × 10/height (cm) < 1·36) and (3) mean skinfold thickness (SF) < 7 mm and to question the reliability of thresholds as indicators of undernutrition. Design: Cross-sectional study; breakpoint analysis. Setting: Rural and urban regions of Indonesia and Guatemala - different socio-economic status (SES). Participants: 1716 Indonesian children (6·0-13·2 years) and 3838 Guatemalan children (4·0-18·9 years) with up to 50 \% stunted children. Results: When separating the regression of BMI, MUAC or SF, on height into distinguishable segments (breakpoint analysis), we failed to detect relevant associations between height, and BMI, MUAC or SF, even in the thinnest and shortest children. For BMI and SF, the breakpoint analysis either failed to reach statistical significance or distinguished at breakpoints above critical thresholds. For MUAC, the breakpoint analysis yielded negative associations between MUAC/h and height in thin individuals. Only in high SES Guatemalan children, SF and height appeared mildly associated with R2 = 0·017. Conclusions: Currently used lower thresholds of height-for-age (stunting) do not show relevant associations with anthropometric indicators of energetic undernutrition. We recommend using the catch-up growth spurt during early re-feeding instead as immediate and sensitive indicator of past undernourishment. We discuss the primacy of education and social-economic-political-emotional circumstances as responsible factors for stunting.}, language = {en} } @article{HermanussenLiebermanJanewaetal.2012, author = {Hermanussen, Michael and Lieberman, Leslie Su and Janewa, V. Schoenfeld and Scheffler, Christiane and Ghosh, Arunava and Bogin, Barry and Godina, Elena and Kaczmarek, M. and El-Shabrawi, M. and Salama, E. E. and R{\"u}hli, Frank J. and Staub, Kaspar and Woitek, U. and Blaha, Pawel and Aßmann, Christian and van Buuren, Stef and Lehmann, A. and Satake, T. and Thodberg, H. H. and Jopp, E. and Kirchengast, S. and Tutkuviene, J. and McIntyre, M. H. and Wittwer-Backofen, U. and Boldsen, Jesper L. and Martin, D. D. and Meier, J.}, title = {Diversity in auxology between theory and practice}, series = {Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Anthropologie}, volume = {69}, journal = {Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Anthropologie}, number = {2}, publisher = {Schweizerbart}, address = {Stuttgart}, issn = {0003-5548}, doi = {10.1127/0003-5548/2012/0133}, pages = {159 -- 174}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Auxology has developed from mere describing child and adolescent growth into a vivid and interdisciplinary research area encompassing human biologists, physicians, social scientists, economists and biostatisticians. The meeting illustrated the diversity in auxology, with the various social, medical, biological and biostatistical aspects in studies on child growth and development.}, language = {en} } @article{HermanussenLiebermanSchoenfeldJanewaetal.2012, author = {Hermanussen, Michael and Lieberman, L. S. and Sch{\"o}nfeld Janewa, U. and Scheffler, Christiane and Ghosh, A. and Bogin, Barry and Godina, E. and Kaczmarek, M. and El-Shabrawi, M. and Salama, E. E. and R{\"u}hli, F. J. and Staub, K. and Woitek, U. and Blaha, Pawel and vanBuurren, S. and Lehmann, A. and Satake, T. and Thodberg, H. H. and Jopp, E. and Kirchengast, S. and Tutkuviene, J. and McIntyre, M. H. and Wittwer-Backofen, U. and Boldsen, J. L. and Martin, D. D. and Meier, J.}, title = {Diversity in auxology: between theory and practice Proceedings of the 18th Aschauer Soiree, 13th November 2010}, issn = {0003-5548}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @article{HermanussenSchefflerPulunganetal.2023, author = {Hermanussen, Michael and Scheffler, Christiane and Pulungan, Aman B. and Bandyopadhyay, Arup Ratan and Ghosh, Jyoti Ratan and {\"O}zdemir, Ay{\c{s}}eg{\"u}l and Koca {\"O}zer, Ba{\c{s}}ak and Musalek, Martin and Lebedeva, Lidia and Godina, Elena and Bogin, Barry and Tutkuviene, Janina and Budrytė, Milda and Gervickaite, Simona and Limony, Yehuda and Kirchengast, Sylvia and Buston, Peter and Groth, Detlef and R{\"o}sler, Antonia and Gasparatos, Nikolaos and Erofeev, Sergei and Novine, Masiar and Navazo, B{\´a}rbara and Dahinten, Silvia and Gomuła, Aleksandra and Nowak-Szczepańska, Natalia and Kozieł, Sławomir}, title = {Environment, social behavior, and growth}, series = {Human biology and public health}, volume = {1}, journal = {Human biology and public health}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, issn = {2748-9957}, doi = {10.52905/hbph2023.1.59}, pages = {14}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Twenty-four scientists met for the annual Auxological conference held at Krobielowice castle, Poland, to discuss the diverse influences of the environment and of social behavior on growth following last year's focus on growth and public health concerns (Hermanussen et al., 2022b). Growth and final body size exhibit marked plastic responses to ecological conditions. Among the shortest are the pygmoid people of Rampasasa, Flores, Indonesia, who still live under most secluded insular conditions. Genetics and nutrition are usually considered responsible for the poor growth in many parts of this world, but evidence is accumulating on the prominent impact of social embedding on child growth. Secular trends not only in the growth of height, but also in body proportions, accompany the secular changes in the social, economic and political conditions, with major influences on the emotional and educational circumstances under which the children grow up (Bogin, 2021). Aspects of developmental tempo and aspects of sports were discussed, and the impact of migration by the example of women from Bangladesh who grew up in the UK. Child growth was considered in particular from the point of view of strategic adjustments of individual size within the network of its social group. Theoretical considerations on network characteristics were presented and related to the evolutionary conservation of growth regulating hypothalamic neuropeptides that have been shown to link behavior and physical growth in the vertebrate species. New statistical approaches were presented for the evaluation of short term growth measurements that permit monitoring child growth at intervals of a few days and weeks.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BoginHermanussenScheffler2021, author = {Bogin, Barry and Hermanussen, Michael and Scheffler, Christiane}, title = {Fear, violence, inequality and stunting in Guatemala}, series = {American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Association}, volume = {33}, booktitle = {American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Association}, publisher = {Wiley Interscience}, address = {New York, NY [u.a.]}, issn = {1520-6300}, doi = {10.1002/ajhb.23593}, pages = {1}, year = {2021}, language = {en} } @article{BoginSchefflerHermanussen2017, author = {Bogin, Barry and Scheffler, Christiane and Hermanussen, Michael}, title = {Global effects of income and income inequality on adult height and sexual dimorphism in height}, series = {American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council}, volume = {29}, journal = {American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1042-0533}, doi = {10.1002/ajhb.22980}, pages = {11}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Objectives: Average adult height of a population is considered a biomarker of the quality of the health environment and economic conditions. The causal relationships between height and income inequality are not well understood. We analyze data from 169 countries for national average heights of men and women and national-level economic factors to test two hypotheses: (1) income inequality has a greater association with average adult height than does absolute income; and (2) neither income nor income inequality has an effect on sexual dimorphism in height. Methods: Average height data come from the NCD-RisC health risk factor collaboration. Economic indicators are derived from the World Bank data archive and include gross domestic product (GDP), Gross National Income per capita adjusted for personal purchasing power (GNI_ PPP), and income equality assessed by the Gini coefficient calculated by the Wagstaff method. Results: Hypothesis 1 is supported. Greater income equality is most predictive of average height for both sexes. GNI_ PPP explains a significant, but smaller, amount of the variation. National GDP has no association with height. Hypothesis 2 is rejected. With greater average adult height there is greater sexual dimorphism. Conclusions: Findings support a growing literature on the pernicious effects of inequality on growth in height and, by extension, on health. Gradients in height reflect gradients in social disadvantage. Inequality should be considered a pollutant that disempowers people from the resources needed for their own healthy growth and development and for the health and good growth of their children.}, language = {en} } @misc{SenBoginMondaletal.2021, author = {Sen, Jaydip and Bogin, Barry and Mondal, Nitish and Dey, Sima and Roy, Shreysai}, title = {Groundwater arsenic contamination in the Bengal Delta Plain is an important public health issue}, series = {Human Biology and Public Health}, volume = {2021}, journal = {Human Biology and Public Health}, number = {1}, editor = {Scheffler, Christiane and Koziel, Slawomir and Hermanussen, Michael and Bogin, Barry}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, issn = {2748-9957}, doi = {10.52905/hbph.v1.7}, pages = {1 -- 31}, year = {2021}, abstract = {There is a close association between human biology, epidemiology and public health. Exposure to toxic elements is one area of such associations and global concerns. The Bengal Delta Plain (BDP) is a region where contamination of ground water by arsenic has assumed epidemic proportions. Apart from dermatological manifestations, chronic exposure to arsenic causes a heavy toll through several carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic disorders. This article provides a global overview of groundwater arsenic contamination in the BDP region, especially the sources, speciation, and mobility of arsenic, and critically reviews the effects of arsenic on human health. The present review also provides a summary of comprehensive knowledge on various measures required for mitigation and social consequences of the problem of arsenic contaminated groundwater in the BDP region.}, language = {en} } @article{BoginVareaHermanussenetal.2018, author = {Bogin, Barry and Varea, Carlos and Hermanussen, Michael and Scheffler, Christiane}, title = {Human life course biology}, series = {American journal of physical anthropology}, volume = {165}, journal = {American journal of physical anthropology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0002-9483}, doi = {10.1002/ajpa.23357}, pages = {834 -- 854}, year = {2018}, language = {en} }