No association between nutrition and body height in German kindergarten children
- Anthropologists all over the world are discussing influences on individual height including quantity and quality of nutrition. To examine whether a relationship between nutritional components and height can be found this pilot study has been developed. The research samples consisted of 44 children (age 3–6 years) attending two different kindergartens in Germany. Height measurements were taken for each child. Furthermore the parents had to fill out a 24-hour questionnaire to document their children’s eating habits during the weekend. In order to standardize the measured height values z-scores were calculated with reference to the average height of the overall cohort. The results of correlation analysis indicate that height is not significantly related to any of the main nutritional components as protein (r = –0.148), carbohydrates (r = 0.126), fat (r = 0.107), fibre (r = –0.289), vitamin (r = 0.050), calcium (r = 0.110), potassium (r = 0.189) and overall calorie intake (r = 0.302). In conclusion, it can be stated that the quality ofAnthropologists all over the world are discussing influences on individual height including quantity and quality of nutrition. To examine whether a relationship between nutritional components and height can be found this pilot study has been developed. The research samples consisted of 44 children (age 3–6 years) attending two different kindergartens in Germany. Height measurements were taken for each child. Furthermore the parents had to fill out a 24-hour questionnaire to document their children’s eating habits during the weekend. In order to standardize the measured height values z-scores were calculated with reference to the average height of the overall cohort. The results of correlation analysis indicate that height is not significantly related to any of the main nutritional components as protein (r = –0.148), carbohydrates (r = 0.126), fat (r = 0.107), fibre (r = –0.289), vitamin (r = 0.050), calcium (r = 0.110), potassium (r = 0.189) and overall calorie intake (r = 0.302). In conclusion, it can be stated that the quality of nutrition may not have a strong influence on individual height. However, due to the small sample size further research should be provided with a larger cohort of children to verify the present results.…
Author details: | Christina PospisilORCiD, Anna-Franziska Czernitzki, Christiane SchefflerORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2017/0704 |
ISSN: | 0003-5548 |
ISSN: | 2363-7099 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28555243 |
Title of parent work (English): | Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie |
Subtitle (English): | a pilot study |
Publisher: | Schweizerbart |
Place of publishing: | Stuttgart |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2017/05/30 |
Publication year: | 2017 |
Release date: | 2022/09/26 |
Tag: | Germany; children; individual body height; nutritional components |
Volume: | 74 |
Issue: | 3 |
Number of pages: | 4 |
First page: | 199 |
Last Page: | 202 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |