Trends in Morphological Characteristics among 7- and 11-Year-Old Serbian Children: A Comparison between 1990 and 2020

Abstract

Since knowledge possession about the morphological characteristics trend is important to understand, it is necessary to monitor the physical growth and children’s development. We have aimed to examine the current state, dynamics, and direction of changes in morphological characteristics, over a 30-year period in Serbian children and adolescents. Morphological characteristics measured in 2020 ( $n=304$ ; age $7\pm 6$ and $11\pm 6$ ) were compared with the results of same-age children and adolescents from 1990 ( $n=1789$ ). The following characteristics were measured: body height, body mass, body mass index, forearm circumference, and upper arm skinfold. The average height (95% IP) of 7-year-old boys was significantly lower in all morphological variables in 1990, compared to their 2020 peers, while in forearm circumference was opposite. As for the 11-year-old boys, body mass ( $p=0.02$ ) and BMI ( $p=0.009$ ) had significantly better average values in 2020 than 1990, whereas forearm circumference (1.6-2.5 cm) and upper arm skinfold (2.7-4.9 cm) results were opposite. Seven-year-old girls from a 1990 sample also had significantly lower average values for morphological characteristics, compared to their 2020 peers. All morphological characteristic variables of 11-year-old girls have significantly better average values in 1990 sample than in 2020, except for body mass ( $p=0.47$ ) and BMI ( $p=0.55$ ). The current results have presented a true “picture” of the trends in morphological characteristics status among 7- and 11-year-old Serbian children by comparing them with the already obtained results 30 years ago.