[Body height of Portuguese school children. Evolution in the last half century]

The height values of 122 boys and 124 girls, 7 to 11 years old, from 19 primary schools of the central area of Portugal were evaluated in 1988. The values from boys of all ages and girls younger than 9 years were normally spread, according to american (NCHS-USA 1976) standards. Girls older than 9 years were relatively shorter which could be related to the late puberty of these country girls. These figures are about 4 cm higher than those collected from portuguese school children born in 1964.