The stature of Jamaican children

Ashcroft, Michael T

Cross-sectional height and weight curves of children are valuable indices of general health but in Jamaica the results of only one small investigation by MacKay in 1951 have been published previously. The following surveys were carried out in 1963 and 1964(a) About 1,100 infants and children up to 9 years old in a rural area (Glengoffe) of St. Catherine. (b) About 10,500 children, aged 7-15 years, attending 30 primary schools in various parts of Jamaica. (c) About 1,600 children, aged 4-11 years, attending 8 preparatory schools in Kingston. (d) About 5,000 pupils aged 11-17 years, at 8 secondary schools in Kingston. These four cross-sectional surveys showed (1) Jamaican preschool and primary school children (predominantly of African origin) are smaller than their counterparts in London in 1959 but larger than in 1905. (2) Children at primary schools in Kingston, on the coast and on the plains, were bigger than those from hilly inland districts. (3) At 6 primary schools the average size of children was greater in 1964 than in 1951, a secular change presumably caused by improvements in health and living standards. (4) Children of African, Afro-European and European origin at preparatory and secondary schools were of similar size but those of Chinese origin were consistently smaller than the other three groups, a difference which must be due to race rather than to environment. (5) Children of African origin at preparatory and secondary schools were considerably larger than those of the same racial group at primary schools, presumably because they come from more privileged socio-economic classes. (6) The ratio of girls' size to boys' size is greatest for those of African origin and least for those of Chinese origin. The cause of this racial difference may be either genetic or environmental (AU)

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The stature of Jamaican children

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