Physical development as an indicator of children health

Abstract

Introduction. This article is devoted to identifying the relationship between aspects of the physical development of the child's organism at an early age and the susceptibility to diseases in subsequent age periods.

Materials and methods. The material was the main anthropometric data of children in the first three years of life (longitudinal study). The method of analyzing outpatient records was used. The main anthropometric characteristics of children were taken into account: body weight, body length, head circumference (up to 1 year) and chest circumference, on the basis of which the body mass index and the Vervec-Vorontsov index were calculated. Diagnoses and health groups of the same children, whose age as of 2023–2024 was 10–11 years, were extracted from outpatient records.

Results. During the first year of life, the proportion of children with harmonious physical development decreased in both boys and girls due to an increase in the proportion of children with disharmonious and sharply disharmonious development relative to the neonatal period. Analysis of the health status of children revealed that majority of children aged 10–11 years had the 2nd health group, which indicates the presence of functional deviations, frequent diseases, or decrease resistance of the organism. According to the results of cluster analysis, two groups were identified: cluster 1 included children who were characterized by harmonious physical development at an early age, with anthropometric indicators and index values within the normal range. Cluster 2 included children with disharmonious physical development, with anthropometric and index values above or below the norm, and diagnosed with various diseases at the age of 10–11 years.

Conclusion. Assessing the harmony of physical development of children in the early stages of ontogenesis can help identify characteristic disorders in the health and adaptive capabilities of the child's organism, as well as prevent the development of diseases in subsequent age periods, which emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and monitoring of the physical development of the younger generation. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

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