Anthropological assessment of changes in living conditions of the rural population in Poland in the period 1967-2001.

Background: Poland is considered an ethnically homogeneous country, with no significant national, linguistic, religious or racial minorities. Thus, social differences in rates of maturation, height and weight may be assumed to contain a negligible genetic component and serve as a reflection of environment, i.e. living conditions.Aim: This study seeks to determine whether changes in economic conditions in Poland, in particular the acute economic crisis of 1977–1989 and the transformation of the political system in 1989, had an effect on the biological status of girls from various categories of the rural population.Subjects and methods: Rural girls aged 9.5–18.5 years were studied in 1967 (n = 7889), 1977 (n = 7771), 1987 (n = 13 556) and in 2001 (n = 9599). The stratification of participants (farmers, farm-workers and non-farmers) was based on the source of their family income, parents' education, number of children per family and household appliances. Age at menarche (AM), body height, and weight were use...