A birth-to-maturity longitudinal study of heights and weights in two West African (Gambian) villages, 1951-1975.

Records of heights and weights kept for more than 25 years for two neighbouring Gambian villages have been used to describe the pattern of growth. There was no secular trend in height. Children who died during the investigation were smaller and lighter than the survivors, but the interval between the last available dry-season measurement and death was not associated with the degree of deficit in height and weight. The presence of seasonal variation in the rates of growth in height and weight was shown, the lowest rates occurring during late rains (August to November). Height growth curves from the age of 5 to 23-25 years were fitted for 55 boys and 62 girls. The curves indicate that puberty is much delayed in Gambian adolescents in comparison to British and West Bengal data. The mean age at peak height velocity (PHV) was 16.3 and 13.8 years for boys and girls respectively. The corresponding velocities were 6.9 and 6.0 cm/yr. In girls but not in boys there was a significant negative correlation (-0.46) between the age at PHV and PHV itself. There was no significant correlation between the age at PHV and adult height. Comparison with British data suggests that growth patterns in the Gambian villages are characterized by the substantial deficits in both height and weight that develop in early life and which appear to persist without rectification into adulthood.