The Relation of Weight to Height during Adolescence

Abstract

AMONG the well-known anthropometric formulæ due to Prof. Dreyer of Oxford (see Lancet, August 9, 1919, and NATURE, August 26, 1920), there is one connecting weight, W, with stem-length, or height of trunk alone,, namely, W = 0.380^0·319. This gives a ratio of the type Wⁿ/ = K, and is of special interest because, when dealing with averages of large numbers, it seems to show surprisingly little variation with age during the important adolescent period of life. To test it I used data relating to Manchester Grammar School boys, for which I am indebted to Dr. Mumford, Medical Officer of the School. The school measurements of height and weight have been taken on a uniform basis for about forty years; measurements of stem-length were taken in addition in 1921 and 1923. If the stem-length is replaced by the full height (H), and if 0·319 (n) is replaced by the approximate value " in Dreyer's formula, I find that the ratio is even less variable. Table 1 shows the values of W^"/H, calculated from the mean values of W and H, for groups of boys varying in age from 9 to 19 years at three different periods of time. In the same table are shown, for comparison, calculations of the same ratio for Schuster's observations of undergraduates, and of W^0·319/ for the Grammar School boys in 1921, 1923. Measurements were expressed in C.G.S. units, but significant figures only are printed.