Differences in Anthropometric Traits and Trend of Changes in High School Students

Abstract

Objectives:  Anthropometric traits are closely related to health improvement as well as motor skills, psychological and sociological development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences in anthropometric traits of high school students and trend of changes among them. Methods:  The anthropometric parameters including weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were measured in 60 male and female students, aged 17 ± 0.5 years. Descriptive statistics and t-independent test was used to analyze the data. Results:  The results suggested that there were statistically significant differences in the height (t = 7.40; P < 0.000) and body weight (t = 3.62; P < 0.001) of male and female students, while no significant difference was found in BMI values in the two groups (t = -0.33, P > 0.001). In addition, it was suggested that 68% of male and female high school with mean BMI of 25 and 13 respectively, had normal nutrition status. 14.6% of male and 10.5% of female students had malnutrition. 21% of female students and 17% of male students had an excessive malnutrition. Conclusions:  Although, today’s development is moving towards the advancement of technology, the life style especially nutrition status and physical activity needs to be seriously considered. However, mush research is needed to understand the effective factors on life style of different age groups especially students who are so involved in threaten of hypokinesian lifestyle.