Linear growth of children in Papua New Guinea in relation to dietary, environmental and genetic factors

Abstract

Linear growth rates in rural Papua New Guinea vary widely by environmental zone. The 1982/83 National Nutrition Survey was a stratified cluster sample survey including questions on diet and anthropometry of children under five years of age. Regression analyses including 25,022 children from this survey show that variation in stature by altitude and precipitation level can largely be accounted for by differences in the fat and protein contents of village diets. Differences in linear growth rate between children living on different landforms show less relationship with diet. Genetic distances based on Class I HLA gene frequencies were calculated for 29 populations. Population mean recumbent lengths were estimated adjusted for age, diet, and environmental variables. The differences between populations in these average lengths were calculated. No significant correlation was found between genetic distances and differences in length. Genetic differences between ancestral populations as tracked by the HLA system do not appear to be an important factor contributing to variation in linear growth of Papua New Guinean children.