GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN AND TATAR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN NABEREZHNYE CHELNY

In 2005–2006, 1387 children and adolescents (708 girls and 670 boys aged 8–17) residing in Naberezhnye Chelny, the Republic of Tatarstan, were subjected to an anthropometric study. The sample consisted of three groups: Tatars (29.9% of girls and 32.3% of boys), Russians (37.7% and 37.9%, respectively), and children with one parent Tatar and another Russian (30.1% and 27.4%, respectively). The program included forty metric and descriptive traits. The age at menarche was assessed by the status quo method, physique, by the Shtefko–Ostrovsky method; also, the development of secondary sexual characteristics was evaluated. The stature of Russians was highest in most age categories, and the weight was maximal in children of mixed descent. The level of sexual maturation was higher in Russians than in members of the two other groups.