Complication and comparison of averages for standing height at late childhood ages on United States boys of several ethnic groups studied between 1875 and 1980.

Averages for standing height are brought together at late childhood ages on boys of different ethnic groups studied in the United States during the last 100 years. More than 80 averages are assembled at each of two ages (9 years and 11 years). Among the groups represented are boys having the following ancestries: Afro-Black, Amerind, Chinese, Japanese, Eskimo, Mexican, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, German, Italian, British, and Dutch. Suffice to cite examples of findings on boys age 11 years. United States Black boys studied during the period 1967-1978 were taller than those studied during 1886-1898 by 11.4 cm, or 8.6%. Average standing heights in the 1930s were near 134 cm for Pueblo boys; near 139 cm for boys whose progenitors were Navajo, Mexican, or Polish; and near 142 cm for boys of Finnish ancestry. In the 1950s, average standing heights were near 140 cm, 144 cm, and 146 cm, respectively, on United States boys of Japanese, Italian, and Dutch ancestries. Afro-Black and Amerind similarities and dissimilarities in the 1960s are illustrated by averages near 140 cm on Black and Chippewa groups in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, and near 144 cm on Black and Blackfeet groups in Ohio and Montana. In some instances, averages are compared for upper and lower socioeconomic subgroups, and for urban and rural subgroups.