Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
09:36
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Income, birth order, siblings, and anthropometry.
Jyoti Ratan Ghosh1, Arup Ratan Bandyopadhyay
1Human Genetics and Anthropometry Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700 019, West Bengal, India.
Human Biology
|June 15, 2007
Summary
Higher household income correlated positively with adult Bengali females' body dimensions, while more siblings and later birth order showed inverse associations. These socioeconomic factors significantly impact body composition.
Area of Science:
- Human biology
- Anthropometry
- Public health
Background:
- Socioeconomic factors like income and family size can influence health outcomes.
- Understanding these determinants is crucial for targeted health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between monthly household income, birth order, and number of siblings.
- To assess their effects on adult Bengali females' body dimensions, adiposity index, and body composition.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 171 adult Bengali females (aged 18-21) in Kolkata.
- Collection of anthropometric measures including weight, height, circumferences, and skinfold thicknesses.
- Calculation of Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat percentage, and fat mass.
Main Results:
- Monthly household income showed a significant positive association with all anthropometric variables.
- Birth order and number of siblings exhibited a significant inverse association with anthropometric variables.
- Analysis of variance confirmed significant effects of income, birth order, and sibling number on body dimensions and composition.
Conclusions:
- Household income, birth order, and number of siblings are significant determinants of body dimensions and composition in adult Bengali females.
- Findings highlight the interplay between socioeconomic status and physical characteristics in this population.
- These factors may inform public health strategies for nutritional and body composition management.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs
Behavior genetics explores how genetic inheritance influences human behavior. It focuses on how genes, passed from parents to offspring, contribute to the development of behavioral traits and tendencies. This branch of genetics seeks to understand the complex interplay between inherited genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping our behaviors.
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
01:06Heritability
Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic" a trait is,...
01:30Biological Influences on Intelligence
Intelligence is often thought to be linked to brain size, but the relationship is more complex than that. While brain size does correlate modestly with some abilities, like verbal skills, the connection is weaker for others, such as spatial reasoning. Other factors, like brain structure, also play crucial roles. For instance, despite Einstein's smaller-than-average brain, his parietal cortex, which is involved in spatial reasoning, was 15% wider, suggesting that neural density might matter more...
01:29Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings
Other adult family members and siblings play a crucial role in shaping children’s social and emotional development. While parents or primary caregivers are often the central figures in early attachment and socialization, other adults in a child’s life, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, can significantly influence developmental outcomes. These influences depend on each adult’s personality and may help compensate when a primary caregiver is emotionally distant or inconsistent. For...
01:10Nature and Nurture
Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience, such as differences...
01:35Pedigree Analysis
Overview