THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL FACTORS ON TWO BIOLOGICAL POTENTIALS: GROWTH OF ADOLESCENTS AND REPRODUCTION IN POLISH FAMILIES

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL FACTORS ON TWO BIOLOGICAL POTENTIALS: GROWTH OF ADOLESCENTS AND REPRODUCTION IN POLISH FAMILIES. The purpose of the study is an examination of the hypothesis whether the influence of each of the three social factors (urbanization, education, and occupation) on attainments of two biological potentials: growth o f youth and fertility differ between each other. The results were based on two country-wide samples of military conscripts (1965, 1986), using the path analysis

Growth change in Polish women: Reduction of the secular trends?

The aim of the study was to analyse changes in the average height of adult Polish women born in 1931-2001 in the aspect of dynamically changing economic and socio-economic conditions of the living environment. An ethnically homogeneous group of 6,028 adult women from large Polish cities, born in 1931-2001, living between 1931 and 2020, were examined using the same research methods and research equipment. All women were divided into eight birth cohorts. The Kruskal-Wallis test and multiple regression analyses were used. Root Mean Square Standardized Effect (RMSSE), critical value of the test, and test power were calculated. The average height of women born during 70 years of the study increased by 9.63 cm, from 158.22 cm (SD = 5.57 cm) to 167.85 cm (SD = 6.91 cm) (H = 1084.84, p<0.001). The intensity of the intergenerational trend in subsequent cohorts of years of birth varied strongly between decades, averaging 1.34 cm/decade. The body height in women increased significantly up to the height of those born between 1970 and 1979 and then the trend weakened noticeably, although it remained positive. The observed secular trend confirms positive changes in the standard of living of Polish women between 1931 and 2020. Improving living conditions allow people to fully achieve their genetically determined growth potential

The effects of menstrual and menopausal factors on bone mineral content in healthy Polish women

The aims of the study were the following: (1) An evaluation of which factor, aging itself or the occurence of menopause, revealed a more detrimental effect on bone mineral content (BMC) of healthy women; (2) An assesment of influence of other factors (the menarcheal age, the total number of reproductive years and the lenght of the period after menopause) on BMC. Our sample material comprised a group of 928 healthy females (715 pre- and 213 postmenopausal), aged 20-62. BMC at the ultra-distal radius was assessed by pQCT. BMC differences between particular groups were tested using a two-way ANOVA. The menopause was related to BMC decline and the impact of menopausal hormonal alterations was much stronger than that of chronological age. Among postmenopausal women, the total number of reproductive years was not an independent predictor of better bone status. In premenpausal women the beneficial effect of earlier menarche on bone tissue is maintained

The negative health consequences of unemployment: The case of Poland

In the 1990s Poland began to make a transition to a free-market economy: a transition accompanied by a variety of negative socio-economic developments, most notably a rise in unemployment. The aim of this study is to shed light on the relationship between occupational status (including unemployment) and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), by examining the experience of 542 men and 572 women between the ages of 40 and 50 of the town of Wroclaw in 2006. The Framingham Risk Score (FRS), which uses certain health and life-style parameters to predict the risk of major coronary problems over a 10-year period, was calculated, and the effect of occupational status on the FRS was assessed. The results showed that the FRS varied according to sex and to occupational status, with the highest FRS rating among unemployed men. Thus governmental policies to counter the adverse effects of unemployment should be developed to remedy the problem.Unemployment Cardiovascular diseases Framingham Risk Score Poland

How Stress Is Related to Age, Education, Physical Activity, Body Mass Index, and Body Fat Percentage in Adult Polish Men?

Stressful events and chronic tension are considered a burden and a threat to physical, mental, and social health. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the associations of variation in stress exposure with social factors, physical activity, basic components of physical fitness, body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat (BFP). An additional objective was to identify the main BFP modifiers among those analyzed. The material consisted of data of ethnically homogeneous group 355 men (32&ndash;87 yrs), invited to the study as part of the Wroclaw Male Study research project. The analyzed features included socioeconomic status (age, educational level), elements of lifestyle (physical activity), major and most important stressful life events&mdash;Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) and basic parameters of the somatic structure of the body (BMI, BFP). Statistical analyses included: chi-square test, Mann&ndash;Whitney U test and backward stepwise regression (significance level &alpha; = 0.05). Stress exposure showed significant socioeconomic variation among the adult Poles studied. Higher levels of education were associated with higher levels of stress. Significant correlations between SRRS and physical activity were found, especially in men older than 60 years and with higher levels of education. A positive relationship was shown between SRRS and BFP, especially in men under 60 years of age. BFP appeared to depend mainly on age and stress. The main determinants of SRRS were age and education level, while BFP turned out to be more sensitive to stress than BMI. The modifying force of physical activity for SRRS appears to be age dependent