Daily Calorie Intake, Level of Physical Activity and Morphological Status of Children and Adolescents in Three Cities of Russian Federation

The study is devoted to identifying the intergroup variability of morphological characteristics, body composition, in-dicators of physical activity and nutritional status in modern adolescents of the cities of Elista, Arkhangelsk and Moscow. The increased body weight of Arkhangelsk adolescents of both sexes determines the high values of basal metabolic rates in this group. At the same time, a low level of physical activity has a negative effect on the development of the musculo-skeletal component, that is, increased body weight values are associated in this group to a greater extent with its fat component. Residents of Moscow have intermediate values among the three groups surveyed for most morphological in-dicators and minimum indicators of exchange. However, it is this group that is characterized by the maximum amount of time allocated to physical activity. The results obtained indirectly indicate the presence of a certain level of socio-eco-nomic differences in the surveyed cities

Sex-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity as a Complex Reaction of Human Organism to Different Environmental Conditions

Complex anthropological investigations of modern students were carried out in the three big cities of the Russian Federation (Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk), as well as in the villages of Mordovia. The program of morphofunctional investigation included body characteristics, body mass components (evaluated with the bioelectrical impedance analyzer “Medass-1”), physiological characteristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, right hand grip strength (dynamometry). To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism, coefficient of sexual dimorphism (CSD) was used in this study. The total number of the studied subjects was 476 young women and 375 young men, from 17 to 23 years old. The results of ANOVA analyses show the presence of non-random variations for the majority of studied characteristics in the examined groups. On this basis, it is possible to consider that different environmental conditions exert significant influence on human organism, which is the core of the adaptation process. The largest distance separates the groups from the city of Saransk and Mordovian villages. It shows that the impact of social and environmental factors for rural and urban inhabitants is much larger as compared to ecological ones, e.g., latitude of the location. Comparison of the CSD values in all groups showed that the degree of adaptation potentials is considerably different in males and females for many characteristics. Thus, for body mass components, characteristics of respiratory system, height and BMI, males are more sensitive to environmental influences. For the cardiovascular system traits, the degree of fat tissue development and body mass, the strength of adaptation changes is practically equal in men and women, with slight advantages in men

Secular Trends of Children From Birth to 3 Years: Meta-Analysis of Data From Russia and the Neighboring Countries

The goal of the study is to investigate secular changes in main anthropometric characteristics of the newborns, infants and early age children, using the wide spectrum of the urban samples from modern Russia and the former USSR, through the course of several decades, from 1920th till now. The study summarizes the data of 338 samples of the newborns, 188 samples of the 12-months old infants, 168 samples of the 2-year old children, 256 samples of the 3-year old children. The secular dynamics of the body length describes the process of significant increase of the skeletal development of children of both sexes in all growth periods. This trend is combined with the stability in body mass parameter of the newborns and infants, significant increase in body mass of 2-year-olds, slight increase in body dimension in 3-year-old children aged. The values of head circumference in newborns decrease from the 1950’s to 2000’s by 1.1-1.2 cm, which could be explained by the trend of the decrease in maternal pelvic width discussed in the literature. This trend completely stops to the end of the first year of life, and the 12-months old infants experience secular stability of this parameter. The head and chest circumferences of 2- and 3-year-olds keep stable through the time period under consideration

Gender and Regional Differences in Body Image Dissatisfaction in Modern University Students: A Pilot Study in Two Cities of Eastern Europe

Complex anthropological and psychological study of the university students was carried out in two regions (the cities of Moscow and Tiraspol) with the aim to reveal gender and regional differences of body image dissatisfaction and their connection with the body build. 502 individuals (187 males and 315 females) aged from 17 to 25 years were investigated. The program included anthropometric measurements (height and weight, with further calculation of Body Mass Index – BMI), evaluation of body mass components, as well as psychological testing with Stunkard’s silhouette scale and the Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria (SIBID). It was found that among the representatives of both sexes the level of dissatisfaction with their own body is relatively similar (69% of males and 67% of females). However the girls were mostly dissatisfied with their excessive, as they perceived, body mass (83% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals) while the boys were dissatisfied mostly because of their underweight (60% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals). Besides, the girls were more likely to exaggerate their weight while the boys perceived it as smaller than it really was. In girls certain social influences had more impact on body image dissatisfaction than in boys. Among the girls studied, the Muscovites were more critical to their own physical appearance, which resulted in lower self-assessment of their body image and, consequently, in less positive influence of this assessment on the quality of life compared to the girls from Tiraspol

Secular Changes in Mongolia: Shift in Tempos of Growth

The patterns of secular changes in children and adolescents of the city of Ulаan-Baatar in the Republic of Mongolia measured in 2010–11 by the authors and in the group of children observed by Uranchimeg in the same place in 19891 have been analyzed. Total number of the investigated children and adolescents from 9 to 17 years of age was 1351. The last survey was conducted in accordance with bioethical procedures. The program included standard anthropometric measurements, descriptive characteristics2 and pubertal stages evaluation3. Mean age of development of secondary sexual characteristics was calculated graphically. For most of the anthropometric indices significant differences between the Mongolian teenagers of two series of measurements were revealed. The patterns of secular changes in body size confirmed the interaction of »tempo and amplitude«4: significant changes in pubertal growth were observed with the same average values at 16–17-year old boys and girls. The increase in body circumferences observed in modern Mongolian schoolchildren was possibly based on the increase of body fat component, parallel to the global trend worldwide

Secular Changes in Mongolia: Shift in Tempos of Growth

The patterns of secular changes in children and adolescents of the city of Ulаan-Baatar in the Republic of Mongolia measured in 2010–11 by the authors and in the group of children observed by Uranchimeg in the same place in 19891 have been analyzed. Total number of the investigated children and adolescents from 9 to 17 years of age was 1351. The last survey was conducted in accordance with bioethical procedures. The program included standard anthropometric measurements, descriptive characteristics2 and pubertal stages evaluation3. Mean age of development of secondary sexual characteristics was calculated graphically. For most of the anthropometric indices significant differences between the Mongolian teenagers of two series of measurements were revealed. The patterns of secular changes in body size confirmed the interaction of »tempo and amplitude«4: significant changes in pubertal growth were observed with the same average values at 16–17-year old boys and girls. The increase in body circumferences observed in modern Mongolian schoolchildren was possibly based on the increase of body fat component, parallel to the global trend worldwide

Secular Changes in Mongolia: Shift in Tempos of Growth

The patterns of secular changes in children and adolescents of the city of Ulаan-Baatar in the Republic of Mongolia measured in 2010–11 by the authors and in the group of children observed by Uranchimeg in the same place in 19891 have been analyzed. Total number of the investigated children and adolescents from 9 to 17 years of age was 1351. The last survey was conducted in accordance with bioethical procedures. The program included standard anthropometric measurements, descriptive characteristics2 and pubertal stages evaluation3. Mean age of development of secondary sexual characteristics was calculated graphically. For most of the anthropometric indices significant differences between the Mongolian teenagers of two series of measurements were revealed. The patterns of secular changes in body size confirmed the interaction of »tempo and amplitude«4: significant changes in pubertal growth were observed with the same average values at 16–17-year old boys and girls. The increase in body circumferences observed in modern Mongolian schoolchildren was possibly based on the increase of body fat component, parallel to the global trend worldwide

Secular Trend of Body Dimensions in Highly Qualified Wrestlers

The purpose of the paper was to study the physique of highly qualified martial art athletes engaged in different types of wrestling, and to perform a retrospective analysis of the morphological characteristics of wrestlers examined since the early 1920s. The materials of the anthropometric survey of 48 athletes engaged in different types of wrestling with qualification from the candidate for master of sports and above were used for this purpose and compared to the "control group" of young men (N = 97) who were not engaged in sports (similar to the group of athletes by age, ethnicity and percentage of individuals with different weight categories). A set of morphological traits was established that contributed to the successful achievements in sports. When comparing the physique of modern athletes with that of the wrestlers surveyed in the early and mid-20th century (the 1920s and 1960s), it has been shown that the secular trend towards increase in height typical for modern population, was expressed in athletes to a much lesser extent. Striking similarities were revealed for absolute and relative dimensions characterizing the skeletal body proportions of the wrestlers, which pointed to the secular stability of this sports morphotype. The obtained results can be used as additional morphological criteria for sports selection, professional orientation and prediction of competitive success

Sex-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity as a Complex Reaction of Human Organism to Different Environmental Conditions

Complex anthropological investigations of modern students were carried out in the three big cities of the Russian Federation (Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk), as well as in the villages of Mordovia. The program of morphofunctional investigation included body characteristics, body mass components (evaluated with the bioelectrical impedance analyzer “Medass-1”), physiological characteristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, right hand grip strength (dynamometry). To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism, coefficient of sexual dimorphism (CSD) was used in this study. The total number of the studied subjects was 476 young women and 375 young men, from 17 to 23 years old. The results of ANOVA analyses show the presence of non-random variations for the majority of studied characteristics in the examined groups. On this basis, it is possible to consider that different environmental conditions exert significant influence on human organism, which is the core of the adaptation process. The largest distance separates the groups from the city of Saransk and Mordovian villages. It shows that the impact of social and environmental factors for rural and urban inhabitants is much larger as compared to ecological ones, e.g., latitude of the location. Comparison of the CSD values in all groups showed that the degree of adaptation potentials is considerably different in males and females for many characteristics. Thus, for body mass components, characteristics of respiratory system, height and BMI, males are more sensitive to environmental influences. For the cardiovascular system traits, the degree of fat tissue development and body mass, the strength of adaptation changes is practically equal in men and women, with slight advantages in men