Heights and weights of Barbadian school children

The size of school children is a valuable index of the wellbeing of a community. The effects on the general level of health of different environments, of long-term changes in standards of living, and of other features of sections of a community are often reflected in the growth of children. Thus a knowledge of heights and weights may aid an assessment of effects of infectious disease, diet, and race. No comprehensive anthropometric data for Barbadian school children have previously been published, although Standard (1964) gave mean heights and weights for children under 7 years of age. The figures here reported cannot, therefore, be used to evaluate past changes but, particularly since this survey coincided with the introduction of a school meals programme, they may be useful in providing a baseline for future studies of secular change in the growth of school children. They also make possible comparisons with other Caribbean Islands for which data have recently been publishe