Growth and Nutrition of Manitoba Preschool Indian Children. III. Anthropometry

Body measurements were obtained on 575 preschool children at the Indian communities of Cross Lake and Garden Hill in northern Manitoba. Infectious diseases were common in the children but clinical signs of malnutrition were rare. Height, weight and head circumference measurements for age were similar to those reported from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) for U.S. children but weight for height, particularly in the girls, exceeded these standards. The children were not obese in that triceps fatfold thickness measurements were lower than those of British children. Mid-upper arm muscle areas were similar to those of U.S. children. Chest circumference measurements were greater than those reported for European children and the large chest size may have accounted for at least some of the increased weight for height.