Tineshev Slavi At
Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski, Bulgaria.
Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2010 Oct-Dec;52(4):32-8. doi: 10.2478/v10153-010-0015-0.
It is impossible to give an objective anthropologic assessment of the overall physical development of a child's body during the time of intensive growth (7-17 years) without taking into account the age and gender changes in the absolute and relative head and face measurements. Head growth has specific characteristics that makes it different from the growth of other parts of the body. The head of a child differs from the head of an adult not only by metric characteristics but also by the proportions between the different head measurements. Growth and proportionality of the head comply with the general growth pattern, but there are also certain regional, populational and temporal differences. That was the reason why we conducted a study targeted at children and adolescents from the region of the Eastern Rhodopes. The aim Of the present study was to determine the growth dynamics in between-gender and between-age aspects of the variables characterizing the neurocranium and facial cranium, and establish the tendency and direction of the secular changes,
The study included 1481 children and adolescents (699 boys and 782 girls) aged 7 to 17 years that were examined using the classical methodology of Martin-Saller (1957). Head length, width, height and circumference, as well as face width, mandible width, morphological and physiognomic height of the face were measured. Head index, morphological face index and jugulormandibular index were calculated using standard formulas. The secular changes were analyzed comparing data from 1907 and 1960 with the data of the present study.
The head index classified the children from both genders and all age groups as mesocephals. The girls from the study region had a relatively greater mandible width and boys - relatively greater face width. In the beginning of the growth period wider face forms prevailed especially in the girls, while narrower face forms were more characteristic for the adolescence and postadolescence and better manifested in the boys.
Throughout the entire study period the boys presented with greater measurements of the neurocranium and facial cranium than the girls. For both genders the increase in the neurocranium measurements anticipates that in the facial cranium measurements. In the examined children and adolescents the width cephalometric variables complete their growth earlier than the height variables. The head circumference and head width decrease, while the differences in the head length and facial height increase in both genders and all age groups in the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century.
在儿童身体快速生长阶段（7 - 17岁），若不考虑头面部绝对和相对测量值的年龄及性别变化，就不可能对儿童身体的整体体格发育进行客观的人类学评估。头部生长具有特定特征，使其有别于身体其他部位的生长。儿童的头部与成人的头部不仅在测量特征上不同，而且在不同头部测量值之间的比例上也存在差异。头部的生长和比例符合一般生长模式，但也存在一定的区域、人群和时间差异。这就是我们针对东罗多彼地区的儿童和青少年开展此项研究的原因。本研究的目的是确定表征脑颅和面颅的变量在性别间和年龄间的生长动态，并确定长期变化的趋势和方向。
本研究纳入了1481名7至17岁的儿童和青少年（699名男孩和782名女孩），采用马丁 - 萨勒（1957年）的经典方法进行检查。测量了头长、头宽、头高和头围，以及脸宽、下颌宽、面部形态高度和相貌高度。使用标准公式计算头指数、形态脸指数和颈下颌指数。通过比较1907年和1960年的数据与本研究的数据来分析长期变化。
头指数将所有性别和年龄组的儿童归类为中头型。研究区域的女孩下颌宽度相对较大，男孩脸宽相对较大。在生长初期，较宽的脸型占主导，尤其是女孩，而较窄的脸型在青春期和青春期后期更具特征，且在男孩中表现得更明显。
在整个研究期间，男孩的脑颅和面颅测量值均大于女孩。对于两性而言，脑颅测量值的增加先于面颅测量值的增加。在接受检查的儿童和青少年中，头部宽度的测量变量比高度变量更早完成生长。在20世纪末和21世纪初，所有性别和年龄组的头围和头宽均减小，而头长和面部高度的差异增大。
