Fifty years of child height and weight in Japan and South Korea: Contrasting secular trend patterns analyzed by SITAR
Open Access
- 23 August 2017
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Human Biology
- Vol. 30 (1)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23054
Abstract
Objectives Japanese and South Koreans have traditionally been shorter than Europeans, but have recently become appreciably taller. The aim was to quantify the secular trend patterns in height and weight growth in the two countries over 50 years using the SITAR growth curve model. Methods Data on mean height and weight by sex in 1-year age groups from 1 to 20 years were obtained by decade in South Korea (1965–2005) and Japan (1950–2010). The data were analyzed using SITAR (SuperImposition by Translation And Rotation), which estimates a mean curve and three adjustments–size, timing and intensity–reflecting how the individual surveys differ from the mean. A sensitivity analysis compared results for the Japanese data based on cohort as well as period. Results Growth patterns in the two countries changed dramatically over the study period, affecting not only height and weight but also developmental age, in that the growth period advanced in timing and shrank in duration. SITAR fitted the data well. The trends were larger in South Korea than Japan, and puberty timing in Japan stabilized by 1970. Most of the height increment seen in adults had already accrued by age 1.5 years, whereas the adult weight increment accrued throughout childhood. Conclusions The secular height trend in these countries represents increased growth in the long bones during infancy, so it can be viewed as the inverse of stunting. There are striking country differences in growth pattern, but they are not easily explained by differences in national income, diet or lifestyle.Keywords
Funding Information
- Medical Research Council (MR/M012069/1)
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- A mixed effects model to estimate timing and intensity of pubertal growth from height and secondary sexual characteristicsAnnals of Human Biology, 2013
- The world’s tallest nation has stopped growing taller: the height of Dutch children from 1955 to 2009Pediatric Research, 2012
- SITAR—a useful instrument for growth curve analysisInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2010
- Changes in body mass index by birth cohort in Japanese adults: results from the National Nutrition Survey of Japan 1956-2005International Journal of Epidemiology, 2008
- Anthropometric changes in children and adolescents from 1965 to 2005 in KoreaAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2008
- Secular trends in growthProceedings of the Nutrition Society, 2000
- Growth status of Korean schoolchildren in JapanAnnals of Human Biology, 1982
- Secular acceleration of growth in height in Japanese and its social backgroundAnnals of Human Biology, 1982
- Increase in length of leg relative to trunk in Japanese children and adults from 1957 to 1977: comparison with British and with Japanese AmericansAnnals of Human Biology, 1982
- Estimating the Dimension of a ModelThe Annals of Statistics, 1978