Mixed Longitudinal Data on Height, Weight, Limb Circumferences and Skinfold Measurements of Dutch Children

In the period 1970-1972 a mixed-longitudinal growth study was carried out in Utrecht. Data on height, weight, left arm and left calf circumference of 628 girls and 504 boys in the age-range of 8-17 years are compared with similar data from British standards. Annual increments were also calculated. Maximal annual increment of calf circumference preceded maximal annual increment of arm circumference. Values of biceps, triceps and subscapular skinfolds and their annual increments are presented as well. Triceps and subscapular values are transformed into log units and the percentile-curves obtained are compared with British standard curves from 1975. The calculated muscle-bone and fat areas of the left arm show that girls have more subcutaneous fat than boys and that this difference in fat area increases after puberty. Muscle-bone area is about identical in girls and boys until the age of 13. Thereafter, during their adolescence growth spurt, boys reach higher values of muscle-bone area than the girls