Billewicz W Z, McGregor I A
Ann Hum Biol. 1982 Jul-Aug;9(4):309-20. doi: 10.1080/03014468200005811.
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.
为描述生长模式，研究人员使用了为两个相邻的冈比亚村庄保存了25年以上的身高和体重记录。身高没有长期趋势。在调查期间死亡的儿童比幸存者更小更轻，但最后一次旱季测量到死亡之间的间隔与身高和体重的不足程度无关。研究显示身高和体重的生长速率存在季节性变化，最低速率出现在晚雨季节（8月至11月）。对55名男孩和62名女孩拟合了5至23 - 25岁的身高生长曲线。这些曲线表明，与英国和西孟加拉的数据相比，冈比亚青少年的青春期大大延迟。男孩和女孩达到身高峰值速度（PHV）的平均年龄分别为16.3岁和13.8岁。相应的速度分别为6.9厘米/年和6.0厘米/年。在女孩中，达到PHV的年龄与PHV本身之间存在显著的负相关（-0.46），而在男孩中则没有。达到PHV的年龄与成年身高之间没有显著相关性。与英国数据的比较表明，冈比亚村庄的生长模式特点是在生命早期身高和体重都存在显著不足，并且这些不足似乎一直持续到成年都没有得到改善。
