A comparative anthropometric study of Cook Islands and Australian preschool children.

An anthropometric study was conducted on a sample of preschool children from Mangaia, Cook Islands, and a comparison made with similar measurements made on Caucasian children aged two and four years. At two years there were no differences in height, weight, or fatness as measured by skinfold thicknesses between the populations. By four years, the Mangaian children were shorter, lighter and fatter. It is proposed that this disparity in somatic growth is a result of subtle nutritional deficits in the Mangaian children.