Blood Pressure, Height, Weight and Social Class in Children from the Shetland Islands

Abstract

A social class gradient in children’s heights is well known; those from the more privileged groups being taller at all ages than those from lower social class groups (Tanner, 1962), Children from different socio-economic levels differ in size and in their tempo of growth in almost all societies so far examined (Tanner, 1978) and this is reflected in the frequently reported differences in (for example) adult heights and weights. Such height differences were clearly shown in the British National Child Development Survey and can be seen in Figure 1. A notable exception to the relationship was first described by Lindgren (1976) in urban Swedish children for which no significant differences between socio-economic strata defined by reference to father’s occupation and family income were found either for height and weight, or for ages at peak height velocity, peak weight velocity or menarche in a group of children investigated longitudinally. Clegg (1982) has also recently reported no significant differences in bodily dimensions including skinfold thicknesses between socio-economic levels for a group of 11 to 13 year old children from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. The present cross-sectional study refers to a group of Scottish children from the island population of Shetland.