Changes in body and head dimensions in urban Sardinian children (3-5 years) from 1986 to 2001

The study describes and discusses the changes in body and head dimensions of urban pre-school children from Sardinia in a 15-year period.

The mean values of 11 anthropometric variables measured in 2001 in 414 children (209 males, 205 females) from 3 to 5 years old were compared with those measured in 1986 in 262 coeval children (131 males, 131 females). The t-test was used to evaluate whether the differences between the two samples, divided by sex, were statistically significant.

For each age class and sex, the differences between the means were significant for the following anthropometric variables: weight, stature, estimated lower limb length, biacromial breadth, bicristal breadth, body mass index, relative sitting height index, head length, and cephalic index. In contrast, the differences between the means were not significant for sitting height and head breadth.

The pre-school children of Cagliari measured in 2001 were on average taller and especially heavier than their same-sex peers measured in 1986; the increase in height was clearly due to the increased length of the lower limbs. The transverse dimensions of the trunk also increased, while its length remained largely the same. Head length also increased, while the relative sitting height and cephalic indexes decreased.