Kano K, Chung C S
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1975 Sep;43(2):187-94. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330430206.
Growth patterns of Japanese schoolchildren in Hawaii, composed of 2,954 boys and 3,213 girls aged between 11 and 17, were compared with those comparable groups of Japanese schoolchildren in Japan based on the data published by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Growth characteristics studied were height, weight, and relative weight index, weight/(height). The Hawaii-Japanese boys were taller at early ages but the difference disappeared by age 16. Native Japanese girls were shorter than Hawaii-Japanese until age 13, but they overtook the latter by age 14, exceeding them in height after age 15. A similar pattern was found in weights of girls but the Hawaii-Japanese boys remained consistently heavier by 5.0 to 9.0 kg than native Japanese. The relative weight measure indicated that the Hawaii boys were more "obese" than native Japanese boys for the growth period studied; whereas the same tendency was maintained until age 15 in girls. These observations indicate a marked degree of convergence of the patterns of physical growth of the two populations, whose differences were unmistakably in favor of American born children in earlier studies. It is concluded that the convergence is due largely to the improved environmental conditions in Japan in recent years.
基于日本教育部公布的数据，对夏威夷的2954名11至17岁男孩和3213名女孩组成的日本学龄儿童的生长模式，与日本国内可比的日本学龄儿童群体进行了比较。所研究的生长特征包括身高、体重以及相对体重指数，即体重/（身高）。夏威夷的日本男孩在幼年时较高，但到16岁时这种差异消失。日本本土女孩在13岁之前比夏威夷的日本女孩矮，但在14岁时超过了后者，15岁以后身高超过她们。在女孩体重方面也发现了类似模式，但夏威夷的日本男孩体重始终比日本本土男孩重5.0至9.0千克。相对体重测量表明，在所研究的生长阶段，夏威夷男孩比日本本土男孩更“肥胖”；而女孩在15岁之前保持相同趋势。这些观察结果表明这两个人口群体的身体生长模式有明显程度的趋同，在早期研究中其差异无疑有利于在美国出生的儿童。得出的结论是，这种趋同主要是由于近年来日本环境条件的改善。
