[Influence of birth weight on the physical development of children and teenagers]

To study the influence of birth weight (BW) on the physical development of children and teenagers, weight, height, weight-to-height ratio, and Quetelet's and Rohrer's indices were retrospectively estimated in 699 children at 1, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 16 years of age (including 320 girls) from the tenth classes of 16 Kirov comprehensive schools. It was established that 82.1% of the examined had normal (2.6-3.9 kg) BW, 126% had high (4.0-5.1 kg) BW; and 5.3% had low (1.6-2.5 kg) BW. Moreover; gender differences were characterized only for high-weight schoolchildren, among whom there were more young men (9.2 versus 3.4%). Both the girls and the young men with high BW had higher values of weight, height, and physical development at 1, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 16 years of age than the persons of their age. This shows the specific features of their metabolism at all stages of ontogenesis. The children with low BW lagged behind their peers with normal BW in all physical development indicators by 1 year but did not differ from them at 7, 8 and 12 years of age and again fell behind at 14 and 16 years of age (in weight, weight-to-height ratio, and Quetelet's index). Hence, when evaluating the physical development of schoolchildren, it is necessary to consider their BW.