Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between somatic characteristics and cardiovascular function, physical performance and health-related indicators of normal and stunted 8 to 14-year-old girls in the Ellisras rural area of South Africa. Anthropometric measurements of stature and body mass, nine skinfolds, width and girth were carried out according to the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) on 873 girls (581 normal and 292 stunted) using -2 SD of National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES). Heath-Carter method of somatotyping was used to quantify physique of the girls. The EUROFIT test items were used to test the physical fitness of the girls. The student t-test was used to assess the differences between performance values of the stunted and normal girls. Correlations coefficients as well as partial correlations were calculated to determine the relationship between somatic characteristics, cardiovascular functions and physical fitness. Height measurement of the stunted girls are parallel and below the 10th centile while for the normal girls their mean was close to the 50th centile of NHANES across the age range. Weight of the normal girls was slightly below the 10th centile while for the stunted girls it was below the 5th centile. The stunted girls performed significantly (p < 0.05) better in 1600m run as compared to normal girls through out the age range. The association of somatic characteristics and motor performance was low and moderate in both groups with the stunted groups having better values on performance-related indicators than the normal children. For normal girls, body mass, BMI, and the sum of skinfolds were positive and significantly associated with systole BP. Stunted girls exhibit a positive association with endomorphy. In general, the correlation between cardiovascular function and somatic characteristics is slightly higher for normal girls, with most of the correlation reaching significance with systolic BP. Verf.-Referat