Bracelet Creases among Twins

Bracelet creases among the twins were examined. A total of 42 pairs of twins (monozygotic twins-16 pairs, dizygotic like sex twins-20 pairs and dizygotic unlike sex twins-6 pairs) from the states of West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh of India were studied for this purpose. High discordance value in dizygotic twins in various types of bracelet creases is found to be sufficient to account for the high estimates of heritability. Estimated value of heritability (0.80), however, corroborates this finding. This is indicative of major role played by genetic factors in the expression of the trait as compared to environmental factors

Position of Women in the Ladiya Society: Demographic Perspectives

Position of women has been assessed in terms of demographic perspectives among an offshoot population of a depressed class, namely the Ladiya of Pathariya Jat village of Sagar district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Fertility as well as infant mortality both is found to be considerably high among the womenfolk. It reveals that the Ladiya mothers opt for frequent child bearing in order to make up the loss due to infant mortality, despite the consequent risk of their health as well as survival. The present study, however, inferred that to improve overall status of the women, effort should be made to improve their level of educational attainment and increase their active participation in economic activities for better employment. This will help the women to have more autonomy in decision making to overcome the high rate of infant mortality and birth rate – as well as natural growth rate of the study population

The Tai-Phake of Assam, India – A Morphometric Study and Population Comparison with Neighbouring Groups

Morphometric characters of the adult males of the Tai-Phake and the nature and extent of morphometric variation among five neighboring mongoloid groups of Assam have been examined in the present study. For the sake of investigation 12 anthropometric measurements have been taken and five indices have been calculated. In order to obtain the distance values size, shape and biological distance are calculated. It revels that the Tai-Phake maintains a far distance with other five neighboring groups (Ahom, Deuri, Chutia, Mishing and Moran). The Ahom also maintain far distance with other five groups. While, the Mishing and Moran, and Deuri and Chutia maintain close distance among themselves

Human stature and development with special reference to Indian population

Background: Variation in human height around the globe as well as within a specific region or population is considered as reflection of health, wellbeing and long and short term adaptations. Human height is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors particularly diet and healthcare plays a significant role. Undernutrition during early childhood leads to stunting and poverty is one of the important causes of undernutrition. Still, it was reported that human height has steadily increased over the past two centuries across the globe. This trend is in line with general improvements in health and nutrition during this period. Historical data on heights tends to come from soldiers (conscripts), convicted criminals, slaves and servants. It is for this reason much of the historical data focuses on men. Recent data on heights uses additional sources including surveys and medical records. Here, the primary objective is to understand the variation of height around the globe with special reference to Indian population and to assess the relationship with human development index (HDI) and stature. Material and Methods: For present investigation three dataset on stature were analyzed from three different databases. Primarily, the investigation is based on anthropometric data collected on adult males of 18+ years of age belonging to 118 caste/tribe/ethnic/religious groups residing in 161 districts of 14 states of Indian Union. The data was collected by the trained physical anthropologists of Anthropological Survey of India, following standard techniques using standard instruments. Measurements were taken on adult apparently healthy males. Efforts were also made to exclude closely related individuals. Verbal informed consent was obtained from the study participants and they were illustrated in detail about the study objectives. A total of 43952 adult males were measured for height. The representative samples were drawn from each of the district of the states. To achieve the goal of representative sample, data was collected from different caste/tribe/religious group residing in every particular district and state. These states covered for present investigation are homeland of 759 million populations, which is 62.7% of the total population of India. The second database is based on two consecutive anthropometric surveys conducted in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh (Central India). The first survey was part of Anthropometric survey conducted by Anthropological survey during 1970s. The second one was conducted during 2006 which was limited to 5 ethnic/caste/religious groups. To understand the global variation and predictors of human stature, country-wise average heights were obtained from across the globe. To understand the secular trend and predictors of human stature the data on country-wise average stature around the globe was collected. Simultaneously, data on Human Development Index (HDI) were obtained to understand the impact of development on adult Human Stature. Results: There is wide variation in stature of adult male and females around the globe on the basis of ethnic origin, geographical location, climate and socio-economic conditions. On the basis of Indian data, it was found that ethnic and regional variation in adult human stature is predominated by their ethnic origin.The tribes (ST) have shortest stature (161.45±5.95 cm) followed by scheduled castes (SC), other backward castes (OBC), Jain, Muslims and General Castes (GC). The Sikhs are tallest in India with an average height of 169.09±6.59 cm. Besides caste and occupation, nutritional status was also found to be determinants of adult stature. Significant regional variation in stature was observed in India with Meghalaya males being shortest and Haryana and Punjab males being tallest in this dataset. The regression analysis was computed to find out the role of development in determining the stature around the globe. Conclusion: Variation of human height is modulated by both genetic makeup and environment predictors. Adult stature is an outcome of nutrition and health care available during infancy, childhood and adolescence. Income, occupation, caste (Indian), ethnicity, climate, geo-political environment and development etc. are main determinants of human stature. In Indian context PanHindu caste stratification is one of the predominant determinants of stature

Growth and Nutritional Status of the Bharia – A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh

This study is an attempt to understand the physical growth and nutritional status of Bharia, a primitive tribe of Central India. A cross sectional study was conducted on 551 children (283 boys and 268 girls) aged 4 to 18 years. Body weight, height, sitting height, head circumference, upper arm circumference, chest circumference, biceps, triceps, sub scapular and calf skin fold thickness were measured. Body Mass Index was calculated as weight/ height2to calculate chronic energy deficiency. All anthropometric measurements except skin fold measurement exhibit uniform increase with age in both the sexes. Age-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) indicated substantial changes and falls during pre-school age and rise in adolescence. The BMI according to the Indian standard was normal, but when the data was compared with the International standard malnutrition in both sexes was noticed in childhood. Boys remained undernourished after adolescence, while girls reached the normal growth patterns

Dyslipidemia in pre- and post-menopausal women: a study of peri-urban Paundra Kshatriya women

Dyslipidemia is an important risk factor of cardiovascular disease, whereas menopause is a decrease in ovarian follicular activity at the end of reproductive age of the women, which is significantly influenced by hormonal changes brought on by menopause’s impact on serum lipids. This study was undertaken among pre- and post-menopausal Paundra Kshatriya women in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India in order to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia. 142 adult Paundra Kshatriya women (n pre-menopausal women = 96; n post-menopausal women = 46) were selected from a peri-urban setting of Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Anthropometry and arterial pressure data were recorded. Blood samples were collected from study participants who were on 12 hours fasting. 19.79% of pre-menopausal women and 17.39% of post-menopausal women had normal levels of lipids. Prevalence of dyslipidemia was slightly higher (82.7%) among the post-menopausal women compared to pre-menopausal women (80.2%). While high LDL cholesterol emerged as one of the prime causes for dyslipidemia among pre-menopausal women, hypercholesterolemia emerged as one of the prime causes for dyslipidemia among post-menopausal women. Regression analysis revealed a significant impact of 3 factors in pre-menopausal women and impact of 6 factors in post-menopausal women. Though Paundra Kshatriya women maintain a relatively less stressful and high physical activity lifestyle, they exhibited high levels of lipid abnormalities. The peri-urban population is undergoing lifestyle and dietary changes due to a close proximity to the urban centre, Kolkata. FundingAnthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture, Government of Indi

Influence of Ethnicity, Geography and Climate on the Variation of Stature among Indian Populations

This paper analyzes the variation in the mean stature of adult males of a variety of population groups in India and examines the influence of geographical, climatic and ethnic factors on it. A considerable variation in mean stature has been found with respect to these three attributes. Variation »between« ethnic groups compared with »within« ethnic groups was found to be much more than that of geographical and climatic zones. Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) populations have much low average height than that of General Castes (GC). Climatically dry and semiarid zones have a tendency to have higher stature than in the Monsoon areas. The mean height has been found to be the highest in north India. It is closely followed by west India. An interesting feature is that as one goes towards east and south the mean height gradually decreases. It is the lowest in islands. The mean heights have been regressed on geographical, climatic and ethnic factors, after converting these factors into binary variables. The regression analysis has strengthened the findings, that there is a highly significant relationship between height and geographical, climatic and ethnic factors

Fertility and mortality differentials among the Paundra Kshatriya community living in a peri-urban setting, West Bengal, India

Relationship between fertility and mortality is well known, which exists among different populations of the world. This is known as a genetic phenomenon that has been operating in all human populations. This study examines fertility and mortality differentials among the Paundra Kshatriya community living in a peri-urban setting of West Bengal, India. Altogether, 249 Paundra Kshatriya women were interviewed. A subsample was drawn from this sample, numbering 98, who have completed their reproductive span. Differential fertility is 0.3134 and differential mortality is 0.1393, whereas, index of total selection intensity is 0.4964 according to Crow’s (1958) formula and 0.5980 according to Johnston and Kensinger’s (1971) formula in the study population. The higher value according to Johnston and Kensinger’s (1971) formula is probably because of inclusion of embryonic deaths in the latter. Findings of the present study reveals that differential fertility (If: 0.3134) contribute more than the differential mortality (Im: 0.1393) towards the total opportunity for selection (I=0.4964) in the study population. Paundra Kshatriya is placed with other populations of West Bengal like Jale, Tili, Muslim, Kayastha, Paschtya Vaidya Brahmin, Duley Bagdi, Namasudra and Lepcha in this respect.   &nbsp