TY - JOUR A1 - Mumm, Rebekka A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Hermanussen, Michael T1 - Developing differential height, weight and body mass index references for girls that reflect the impact of the menarche JF - Acta paediatrica : nurturing the child N2 - Aim Growth is both a matter of amplitude and tempo. We aimed to develop references for body height, body weight and body mass index (BMI) with respect to tempo of maturity. Methods Data obtained from the German KiGGS study (2003-2006) on body height, body weight and presence or absence of the menarche were re-analysed in 3776 girls, aged 10-17years. We developed smoothed centiles for BMI-, body-height- and body-weight-for-age using the LMS method for premenarcheal and postmenarcheal girls. Results Body height, body weight and BMI differed significantly between premenarcheal and postmenarcheal girls. On average, postmenarcheal girls aged 11-17years were 5.3cm taller and 9.7kg heavier, and their BMI was 2.9kg/m2 higher than in premenarcheal girls of the same calendar age. Conclusion Adolescent BMI rises with calendar age and biological age. New reference charts for adolescent girls aged 10-18years were generated to be inserted into the currently used references to avoid misclassifying underweight and overweight pubertal girls. KW - Body mass index KW - Body mass index reference values KW - Menarche KW - Obesity KW - Overweight Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12625 SN - 0803-5253 SN - 1651-2227 VL - 103 IS - 7 SP - e312 EP - e316 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Hermanussen, Michael T1 - Is there an influence of modern life style on skeletal build? JF - American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council N2 - Objectives: Modern human life style has led to significant decrease in everyday physical activity and bipedal locomotion. It has previously been shown that skeletal robustness (relative elbow breadth) is associated with daily step counts. The aim of the study was to investigate whether also other skeletal measures, particularly pelvic breadth may have changed in recent decades. Methods: We re-analyzed elbow breadth, pelvic breadth (bicristal), and thoracic depth and breadth, of up to 28,975 healthy females and 28,288 healthy males aged 3-18 years from cross-sectional anthropological surveys performed between 1980 and 2012 by the Universities of Potsdam and Berlin, Germany. Results: Relative elbow breadth (Frame index) significantly decreased in both sexes since 1980 (< 0.001). The trend toward slighter built was even more pronounced in absolute and relative pelvic breadth. In contrast, equivalent changes of parts of the skeletal system that are not involved in bipedal locomotion such as thoracic breadth, thoracic depth, and the thoracic index were absent. Conclusions: The present investigation confirms the decline in relative elbow breadth in recent decades. Analogue, but even more pronounced changes were detected in pelvic breadth that coincides with the modern decline in upright locomotion. The findings underscore the phenotypic plasticity of humans while adapting to new environmental conditions. (C) 2014Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22561 SN - 1042-0533 SN - 1520-6300 VL - 26 IS - 5 SP - 590 EP - 597 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jopp, Eilin A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Hermanussen, Michael T1 - Prevention and anthropology JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Screening is an important issue in medicine and is used to early identify unrecognised diseases in persons who are apparently in good health. Screening strongly relies on the concept of "normal values". Normal values are defined as values that are frequently observed in a population and usually range within certain statistical limits. Screening for obesity should start early as the prevalence of obesity consolidates already at early school age. Though widely practiced, measuring BMI is not the ultimate solution for detecting obesity. Children with high BMI may be "robust" in skeletal dimensions. Assessing skeletal robustness and in particularly assessing developmental tempo in adolescents are also important issues in health screening. Yet, in spite of the necessity of screening investigations, appropriate reference values are often missing. Meanwhile, new concepts of growth diagrams have been developed. Stage line diagrams are useful for tracking developmental processes over time. Functional data analyses have efficiently been used for analysing longitudinal growth in height and assessing the tempo of maturation. Convenient low-cost statistics have also been developed for generating synthetic national references. KW - screening KW - obesity KW - skeletal robustness KW - developmental tempo Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/0003-5548/2014/0384 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 71 IS - 1-2 SP - 135 EP - 141 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Gniosdorz, Birgit A1 - Staub, Kaspar A1 - Rühli, Frank T1 - Skeletal robustness and bone strength as measured by anthropometry and ultrasonography as a function of physical activity in young adults Y1 - 2014 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheffler, Christiane A1 - Gniosdorz, Birgit A1 - Staub, Kaspar A1 - Ruehli, Frank T1 - Skeletal Robustness and Bone Strength as Measured by Anthropometry and Ultrasonography as a Function of Physical Activity in Young Adults JF - American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council N2 - Background: During the last 10 years, skeletal robustness in children has generally decreased. The reasons for this phenomenon, as well as its outcomes, are undetermined so far. Aim: The present study explores the association between anthropometric skeletal measurements, bone quality measurements, and physical activity in young adults. Subjects and Methods: 118 German young men (N=568; 19-25 years old) and women (N=550; 19-24 years old) were investigated by anthropometric methods (i. e., height, weight, shoulder, elbow breadth, and pelvic breadth) and quantitative ultrasound measurement (QUS). Strength and stability of Os calcis have been determined by speed of sound (in m/s) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (in dB/Mhz); individual physical activity was analyzed by a pedometer and by questionnaire. Results: The results show a correlation between sports hours per week and bone quality index in males. But no correlation exists between anthropometric data and QUSs for either sexes, as well as no correlation between total steps per day and internal bone quality or external bone dimensions. Conclusion: These results are discussed in the context of generally decreasing physical activity, the outcomes of prevention programs as well as evolutionary adaptation of human phenotypic plasticity in a changing environment. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22504 SN - 1042-0533 SN - 1520-6300 VL - 26 IS - 2 SP - 215 EP - 220 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -