The Relationship between Body Structure and the Socio-Economic Status in Hungarian Children and Adolescents

Among the numerous factors that influence the pattern of children’s growth and development there are factors of the changeable socio-economic environment. The inequalities among the socio-economic strata in the Hungarian society have increased during last decades. The main objective of the study was to examine the body structure of children and adolescents living in different socio-economic backgrounds. The subjects of the present paper (9479 boys, 9304 girls) were examined in the 2nd Hungarian National Growth Study 2003–2006. Body structure was assessed by some absolute body dimensions, BMI, body composition and body shape indices. Children were grouped into relatively good, average and poor socio-economic subgroups by considering the education and occupation of the parents as well as the number of children in the family. Significant differences were found in the body structure of children varying in the socio-economic background: the better the socio-economic conditions the higher stature in both genders, while the lower relative fatness was found only in pubertal girls. The prevalence of unhealthy nutritional statuses (both underweight and overweight/obese) was significantly lower in children living in better socio-economic conditions in both genders. Differences that were found in the body structure of children living in different socio-economic backgrounds emphasize the importance of using reference growth values layered also to socio-economic strata for screening nutritional status in childhood and adolescence

Body structural and cellular aging of women with low socioeconomic status in Hungary: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: The health status of an individual is determined not only by their genetic background but also by their physical environment, social environment and access and use of the health care system. The Roma are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Hungary. The majority of the Roma population live in poor conditions in segregated settlements in Hungary, with most experiencing higher exposure to environmental health hazards. The main aim of this study was to examine the biological health and aging status of Roma women living in low socioeconomic conditions in Hungary. METHODS: Low SES Roma (n: 20) and high SES non-Roma women (n: 30) aged between 35 and 65 years were enrolled to the present analysis. Body mass components were estimated by body impedance analysis, bone structure was estimated by quantitative ultrasound technique. Cellular aging was assessed by X chromosome loss estimation. Data on health status, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors were collected by questionnaires. RESULTS: The results revealed that low SES women are prone to be more obese, have a higher amount of abdominal body fat, and have worse bone structure than the national reference values. A positive relationship was found between aging and the rate of X chromosome loss was detected only in women with low SES. Waist to hip ratio, existence of cardiovascular diseases and the number of gravidities were predictors of the rate of X chromosome loss in women. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that age-adjusted rate of X chromosome loss could be related to the socioeconomic status

Overview of IFMIF-DONES diagnostics: Requirements and techniques

The IFMIF-DONES Facility is a unique first-class scientific infrastructure whose construction is foreseen in Granada, Spain, in the coming years. Strong integration efforts are being made at the current project phase aiming at harmonizing the ongoing design of the different and complex Systems of the facility. The consolidation of the Diagnostics and Instrumentation, transversal across many of them, is a key element of this purpose. A top-down strategy is proposed for a systematic Diagnostics Review and Requirement definition, putting emphasis in the one-of-a-kind instruments necessary by the operational particularities of some of the Systems, as well as to the harsh environment that they shall survive. In addition, other transversal aspects such as the ones related to Safety and Machine Protection and their respective requirements shall be also considered. The goal is therefore to advance further and solidly in the respective designs, identify problems in advance, and steer the Diagnostics development and validation campaigns that will be required. The present work provides an overview of this integration strategy as well as a description of some of the most challenging Diagnostics and Instruments within the facility, including several proposed techniques currently under study

Networks in Auxology: proceedings of the 31st Aschauer Soiree, held at Aschau, Germany, June 17th 2023

Thirty-four scientists met for the annual Auxological conference held at Aschau, Germany, to particularly discuss the interaction between social factors and human growth, and to highlight several topics of general interest for the regulation of human growth. Humans are social mammals. We show and share personal interests and needs, and we are able to strategically adjust size according to social position, with love and hope being prime factors in the regulation of growth. In contrast to Western societies, where body size has been shown to be an important predictor of socioeconomic status, egalitarian societies without formalized hierarchy and material wealth-dependent social status do not appear to similarly integrate body size and social network. Social network structures can be modeled by Monte Carlo simulation. Modeling dominance hierarchies suggests that winner-loser effects play a pivotal role in robust self-organization that transcends the specifics of the individual. Further improvements of the St. Nicolas House analysis using re-sampling/bootstrap techniques yielded encouraging results for exploring dense networks of interacting variables. The D-score scale, the Infancy-Childhood-Puberty (ICP) growth model and the SuperImposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) technique were presented, as well as customized pediatric growth references, and approaches towards a Digital Rare Disease Growth Chart Library. First attempts with a mobile phone application were presented to investigate the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight, gestational weight gain, and the child’s future motor development. Clinical contributions included growth patterns of individuals with Silver-Russell syndrome, and treatment burden in children with growth hormone deficiency. Contributions on sports highlighted the fallacy inherent in disregarding the biological maturation status when interpreting physical performance outcomes. The meeting explored the complex influence of nutrition and lifestyle on menarcheal age of Lithuanian girls and emphasized regional trends in height of Austrian recruits. Examples of the psychosocial stress caused by the forced migration of modern Kyrgyz children and Polish children after World War II were presented, as well as the effects of nutritional stress during and after World War I. The session concluded with a discussion of recent trends in gun violence affecting children and adolescents in the United States, and aspects of life history theory using the example of ”Borderline Personality Disorder.” The features of this disorder are consistent with the notion that it reflects a ”fast” life history strategy, with higher levels of allostatic load, higher levels of aggression, and greater exposure to both childhood adversity and chronic stress. The results were discussed in light of evolutionary guided research. In all contributions presented here, written informed consent was obtained from all participants in accordance with institutional Human investigation committee guidelines in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki amended October 2013, after information about the procedures used

Training of Railway Specialists in Hungary

Szkolenie specjalistów kolejowych na Węgrzech jest niemal tak stare, jak historia transportu kolejowego. Transport kolejowy jako gałąź przemysłu miał ogromny wpływ na rozwój gospodarczy na Węgrzech. Po rewolucji i wojnie wyzwoleńczej w latach 1848-1849, a szczególnie w 1867 roku po utworzeniu Monarchii Austro-Węgierskiej, rozpoczęła się potężna industrializacja, a zwłaszcza gwałtowny rozwój przemysłu kolejowego. Pojawiło się znaczne zapotrzebowanie na specjalistów, co spowodowało potrzebę instytucjonalizacji kształcenia.Training of railway specialists in Hungary is almost as old as the history of the rail transport. Rail transport as an industrial branch has had enormous impact on general economic development of Hungary. After the Revolution and the War for Independence in the years 1848-1849, and particularly in 1867, when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was established, tremendous industrialization was initiated in the country and this concerned the railway industry in particular. This was accompanied by substantial demand for specialists resulting in the need for institutionalization of the training process

Evolution séculaire de la taille, du poids et de la composition corporelle à Jászság (Hongrie)

Jászság est une région de la Hongrie centrale. La population de cette région a été longtemps isolée non seulement dans le sens géographique mais aussi ethnique et culturel. Cet isolement se termina au 19ème siècle, mais l'observation de Jászság reste toujours intéressante aujourd'hui. La croissance corporelle des enfants de Jászság a été étudiée en 1964 et a été réévaluée tous les 20 ans.Cette étude porte sur les changements de taille, de poids et de composition corporelle pendant ces périodes. Les buts sont d'observer les changements séculaires de ces paramètres. Nous avons sélectionné la taille et le poids d'enfants de 7-14 ans et estimé la composition corporelle par le modèle à deux composants. Nos résultats montrent une tendance à l'augmentation de taille et de poids, plus accentuée entre les années 60 et 80 que par après. L'augmentation de poids est due à l'augmentation de la masse corporelle maigre, la masse graisseuse restant inchangée. Ces résultats peuvent être mis en relation avec les modifications du style de vie de la population de Jászság.Jászság is a geographical region of Middle Hungary. Because of its history the population of this area was isolated for a long time period not only in geographical, but also ethnical and cultural sense. The isolation came to an and in the 19th century, but the observation of Jászság people remained in the centre of interest until now. Body development of Jászság children was studied first in 1964 and the investigation was repeated two times (by 20 years). This study observes the secular changes in body height, mass and body composition. From the three investigations body height and mass of 7-14 year-old pupils were prepared. Measurements for estimating body composition are available only in the last two studies. To assess the body composition a two-component model was applied. Basic statistical parameters were calculated. To test the differences between the groups the one-way analysis of variance was used. Our results proved a definite trend of increase both in body height and mass. The tempo of growth was more expressed until the eighties and decelerated afterwards. The data showed that the increase in body mass was due to the rise of lean body mass. The proportion of fat mass was almost unchanged. In our opinion these results are in connection with the changes that took place in the life of Jászság people and with the alteration of their life style