Height and secular trend in conscripts born in the Central Apennines (Italy), 1865-1972

The main aim of the research was to evaluate the effects of prolonged isolation on the secular trend of height in an internal zone of the central Apennines (Abruzzo, Province of L'Aquila).

Personal data for 1006 military conscripts in five sample years from 1865 to 1972 were used. The mean, standard deviation, median, skewness and kurtosis were calculated. Normal distribution of the data was assessed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Monte Carlo method). Differences between the means were tested by ANOVA and the Tukey test.

Mean height increased from 161.3 +/- 5.97 cm in 1865 to 172.6 +/- 6.28 cm in 1972. The increases were slight, but constant, in the first 80 years: between 0.44 and 0.86 cm/decade, but greater thereafter: 2.37 cm/decade between 1945 and 1972. Regarding the frequency distribution, skewness showed negative values only in 1865 (-0.37 +/- 0.21). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test did not show significance for any period.

The results confirm that the mean heights in south-central Italy, including Abruzzo, were lower than those of the more economically advanced regions of northern Italy in each period. The difference has decreased greatly in the last few generations, but the secular trend is continuing in these communities. This seems to be due to prolonged isolation which has retarded economic development and favoured endogamy and genetic drift. However, it has also prevented the negative effects of wars, since there was no reduction of the secular trend in those periods.