ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper was to analyze if intergenerational undernutrition causes growth retardation in weight and body length in two generations of rats and, if so, to assess whether the delay is cumulative. Male and female rats were assigned to one of the following groups: (1) control: they were fed ad libitum and constituted the parental generation (P), and (2) undernourished generations (F1 and F2): they were fed on 75% of the control diet. Animals were weighed and X-rayed every ten days from 20 to 100 days old in order to measure total body length. Also, body mass index was calculated. Data were processed by ANOVA and LSD post hoc tests. Impairment in weight, body length, and body mass index was found in both generations; nevertheless growth retardation was greater in F2, indicating a cumulative effect of nutritional stress. Sex differences were found, since the cumulative effect of generational undernutrition was greater and earlier in males than in females. It is concluded that when the undernutrition acts with constant intensity during several generations, the growth retardation is cumulative, indicating a negative secular trend.
ABSTRACT
A cross-sectional morphometric study on 569 school children from the city of San Clemente del Tuyú (Buenos Aires, Argentina) has been performed. The sample was subdivided into 28 subgroups according to the age range (7-13 years old), sex, and occupational status -low or high- of the fathers. Body weight, height, sitting height, and head and arm circumferences were measured. Statistics of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test for unequal sample sizes were performed at each stage of age. Both males and females belonging to the lower social status showed a general decrement in growth: shortening in leg length was evident. Since the girls from both occupational status showed -in general terms-hypothesis of "better canalization of the females" has been corroborated by the present work.
