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This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the level of training and the impairment of ovarian function among female recreational distance runners, and its reversibility. Thirty-six female distance runners self-recorded, for 7 consecutive days each month, the duration and distance of daily running from October 1989 to May 1990 in Great Britain. During the last 3 months of the survey, saliva samples were taken for progesterone assay and a subsample was measured for body composition. No trend in weight loss was observed over the season of training. Amenorrheic (AM) and oligomenorrheic (Oligo) runners had a significantly lower body mass index than eumenorrheic (EU) and irregularly menstruating (IM) runners. The amenorrheic and oligomenorrheic subjects did not show any rise in progesterone, at any time, during the 3 months of sampling. The eumenorrheic subjects showed evidence of a rise in progesterone, though the mean level was always significantly lower than that of sedentary controls. The most severely impaired runners (AM and Oligo) ran more than EU or irregularly menstruating runners in this sample, had lower body weight, a younger age and had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI). They tended to run faster during training sessions than those with apparently normal menstrual cycle or just irregular periods. It is suggested that low BMI, which is an indicator of body energy stores, reflects the intensity of regular training runs among female athletes with a stable body weight. It is possible that repeated elevations of beta-endorphins or other suppressors of gonadotropin release, secreted above a level of training commonly exceeded by long distance runners, when concurrent with energy restriction, could contribute to impairment of menstrual cycle. more...

Longitudinal data of monthly length and weight measurements, and fortnightly infectious disease records of 167 infants in Khartoum townships, have been examined to determine: (1) whether disease experience in the first 6 months of life is related to growth in the second 6 months and (2) whether growth in the first period is related to disease experience in the second. Using regression techniques to allow for disease measure correlations in the two periods and other environmental factors that are associated with growth and disease, it is concluded that both length and especially weight growth are affected adversely by previous illness. On the other hand there is almost no evidence that early growth is associated with later disease susceptibility. more...

This study is based on a cross-sectional sample of 442 Sikh boys and young male adults who were born in and around the town of Phagwara, in the state of Punjab, India, and stayed there all their lives. The sample comprised Sikh boys at three crucial phases of growth, at 5-6, 10-11 and 15-16 years, and young adults around 18 years of age. The sample comprised three distinct caste groups, viz. Jats, Ramgarhias and Ravidassias, belonging respectively to upper, middle and lower socioeconomic strata of the Sikh community. Differences in stature and body weight are particularly marked around early adolescence, and there is some indication of caste differences reappearing in young adults. In the case of body mass index, however, the differences seem most marked in late adolescence. There is no clear directional pattern to the way skinfolds change, but inter-caste differences become more marked with age. There is a suggestion of continuing growth beyond 16 years of age, and indications that the well-off groups grow more, as compared to the poor groups, during this period. Comparisons of young adults with older groups of the same caste indicate an increase in body weight with age, but smaller stature in the older groups. There is thus evidence for a secular stature increase among present-day Punjabi Sikhs. more...

First-year postnatal growth of supine length and body weight of a group of Khartoum infants is analysed in terms of the correlation coefficients between birth dimension on the one hand and (1) subsequent distance growth at monthly intervals and (2) the 11-monthly increments on the other. It is shown that the whole of the first-year length growth is dominated by catch-up/catch-down processes which must equally affect the infants. Weight growth is similarly affected, but to a lesser degree and for a shorter time. After 6 months of age some of the influences that determined prenatal weight growth reappear. Using data extracted from fitting growth curves to each individual the correlational analysis suggests a growth pulse in both length and weight, which is responsible for distance catch-up. more...

The interrelationships between some socioeconomic and behavioural characteristics of mothers and the growth and illness experience of their infants in poor Khartoum townships have been examined by path analysis. For both infant body weight and supine length it is shown that weaning age and illness experience are important determinants of growth. It is also shown that greater maternal income has disadvantageous effects through encouraging early weaning. Most importantly the infants of housewives have later weaning, less illness and greater weight and length at 1 year of age than the infants of mothers with jobs, showing the value of time for caring in the prevailing environmental circumstances. more...

The effects of marital distance on the mean and variance of child stature and weight were investigated using the British National Child Development Study data. Children of large marital distance unions had mean values as predicted from mid-parent values and did not exhibit a hybrid vigour effect. However, they did show reduced levels of variability and this effect was most marked at 16 years, although it was also present at 7 and 11 years of age. These results are discussed in terms of large marital distance being associated with high heterozygosity levels, because of geographic variation in gene frequencies. more...

Two groups of young children, one in Addis Ababa and one in Oxford, were measured every calendar month for 6 months. Changes in their stature variability, as evidenced by increasing measurement interval length, are here compared. There is evidence for substantially greater variability in the Addis Ababa children. When the variability is expressed as coefficients of variation both groups show a marked decline with interval length, presumably as constant and additive components of variation become proportionally less important as the mean increases. One constant element is identified in the Addis Ababa children, since a single subtraction from all interval coefficients greater than two months produces the same CV. It is concluded that this probably represents the homeostatic cycle of catch-up growth in this group of children. more...

Correlations are examined between adjacent velocity and acceleration growth in stature, weight and skinfold thickness in a group of adolescent boys measured approximately quarterly. It is concluded that some substantial component of the variability behaves rather like measurement error, and this is likely to represent negative feedback homeostasis. more...

Husband-wife correlations for catecholamine excretion rates are presented. Highly significant positive correlations are found in adrenaline excretion in samples collected in the early morning and at around noon, and in noon noradrenaline excretion. more...

Urinary catecholamine excretion rates, previously shown to be related to lifestyles and environmental influences, were investigated in three traditional-living populations and in an English population. Significant inter-population differences in excretion rates and in creatinine-related excretion were observed. These included high daytime levels of adrenaline output in the traditional groups relative to the English group. Methodological problems are discussed. more...

During International Biological Programme studies in Papua New Guinea, on Karkar Island and at Lufa in the Eastern Highlands, information on anthropometric, biochemical and genetic characteristics was collected from the same individuals. Use has been made of this special situation to investigate whether any associations exist between genetic markers and anthropometric and biochemical variation. Those found, and which satisfy criteria established to help in distinguishing real from chance associations, include: P with haemoglobin concentration and serum albumin and cholesterol levels; acid phosphatase with serum albumin level and haemoglobin concentration; anhaptoglobinaemia and serum globulin level; haemoglobin J-Tongariki with serum phosphorus level. The associations are discussed in terms of their arising from the direct result of environmental factors modifying gene expression, chance concordance of environmental and genetic variation, or pleiotropy. more...

The paper gives the results of the number of analyses of aspects of life-style and dietary patterns of members of the Otmoor population, in relation to their catecholamine excretion rates. The data reported here are restricted to males. Feelings of boredom were associated with low adrenaline excretion rates. Reported physical tiredness was associated with low adrenaline levels, while mental tiredness seems to be related to high adrenaline levels. People who regarded themselves as having a competitive personality, as being faced by a large number of life challenges, as having to meet self-set deadlines, as choosing to focus on more than one task at the same time, or as being under time pressure had high rates. Cigarette smoking and coffee consumption were related to high adrenaline excretion rates. Taken together these variables can explain 16-20% of variance in adrenaline excretion. Smoking and coffee consumption are of primary importance. The results of similar analyses of noradrenaline are reported. more...

In a study of lifestyles and health of the adult population of some Oxfordshire villages, data were collected upon the usual sleep duration and quality, smoking and drinking habits of 725 men and 759 women. A strong negative association has been found between cigarette smoking and sleep duration on both sexes, and between alcohol consumption and sleep duration in men. There is no equivalent association between drinking or smoking and reported poor quality sleep. While these findings do not prove a causal relationship, the absence of complaints of poor quality sleep among the smokers and drinkers suggests that these habits are not simply the correlates of underlying psychological problems leading to insomnia. more...

Twenty-four hour urines were obtained from groups of male and female volunteers recruited from urban populations in developed and developing countries (UK, USA, Japan and Nigeria) an from agriculture-based Polynesian population (Tokelau Islands). The urines were collected on typical working days, with minimal disturbance to subjects' normal routines. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine catecholamine concentrations in each urine, providing a basis for calculation of total 24-hour excretion. Mean 24-hour excretion of noradrenaline and adrenaline was low in the Polynesians compared to the modern, urban groups, and low in women compared to men. Discussion of the results includes assessment of the possible influences of artefact, physical characteristics of the population samples, physical environment and social and psychological factors. more...

Verbal and performance scores in a standard intelligence test (WAIS) were considered in relation to patterns of hand preference (measured by questionnaire) in a large sample of the general population. Left-handers and mixed-handers did not obtain lower scores than right-handers. Indeed, there was a tendency for subjects who reported that they could use either hand for at least one of the questionnaire tasks to obtain higher I.Q.s. Otherwise, there were no significant differences in I.Q. with the exception of a consistent sex difference, in that men achieved higher scores on both verbal and performance scales. more...

Swelling of the parotid salivary glands is commonly observed among males and females of highland Papua New Guinea. Evidence suggests that the condition is related to the highlanders' high starch consumption in the form of sweet potato. In this paper we regard parotid enlargement as an indicator of high energy intake and test its association with two measures of reproductive performance, the number of live births and living offspring, in a sample of 274 women from Lufa in the Eastern Highlands District of Papua New Guinea. Multiple regression analysis including maternal age showed that parotid enlargement is positively correlated with both measures of reproductive performance. Given that parotid gland enlargement in this population is due to persistent starch consumption, and that the condition represents above average energy intake, these results suggest that increases in energy intake relate to increases in reproductive performance in this sample of highland females. more...

Urinary levels of steroid metabolites (17-hydroxycorticosteroids and 17-oxosteroids) were measured in 408 males at two times during the normal working day. Hormone levels are expressed both as rates of excretion and as creatinine ratios and are compared with the values for adrenaline and noradrenaline previously measured in the same samples. Strong associations are found between catecholamines and steroids. Generally the greatest correlation is with hormones of the same biochemical class, although the 17-hydroxycorticosteroid level is more strongly correlated with the adrenaline level than is the level of noradrenaline. more...

Patterns of variation in I.Q., personality and stature are examined in the Otmoor region of Oxfordshire according to village of residence and whether people were born locally or not. It is shown that the locally born do not vary by village in I.Q., but that immigrants do and this is not solely due to social-class associations. Immigrants also have substantially higher I.Qs than those born locally. The findings are discussed in terms of the selectiveness of in-and-out migration. more...

The contributions of age and anthropometric, biochemical and socio-economic variables to blood pressure variation in the population of Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea are examined. Blood pressure does not change with age in males; in females there is a decline from ages 21 to 40 and an increase (in systolic pressure) thereafter. Body weight and skinfold thicknesses decline with age in females; arm circumferences decline in both sexes. There were no age effects on serum cholesterol or serum sodium. Variation in ponderal index and subcutaneous fat contribute to variation in blood pressure. The correlations of blood pressure with physique are more important in males and the particular variables concerned suggest a nutritional basis. The socio-economic variables examined showed little variation and this was not associated with variation in blood pressure. more...

An analysis of longitudinal data shows that there are marked changes in the variability of stature and stature velocity during growth in stature, as measured by the coefficient of variation. Variability in stature velocity tends to rise after birth but from age 2 years it gradually declines until the end of adolescence, once variation in the timing of adolescence is taken into account. Comparison of velocity variation in an affluent western society (UK) with velocity variation in two poorer societies (India and Thailand) shows the former to be systematically smaller. more...

The patterns of serological polymorphic variety in a group of Oxfordshire populations are related to previously made demographic predictions that the different villages and social classes might be expected to be genetically homogeneous if movement were the main factor determining genetic structure. The predictions are largely fulfilled though there remains a residual pattern of variety which is detectable when all the systems tested are considered together by "genetic distance" examination, and in the case of the geographic variation this pattern reflects the comparative magnitude of the exchanges between the different villages. more...

Sleep latency, the usual delay in falling asleep, was estimated in 689 male and 757 female residents of a group of Oxfordshire villages by means of a sleep questionnaire. Sleep latency is analysed in relation to 59 descriptive elements of lifestyle and reported feelings. The pattern of association is broadly similar in the two sexes, and multivariate analysis identifies boredom and insufficient to do, mild morbidity, and use of sleeping tablets and tranquillizers as important correlates of long sleep latency in both sexes. These data are compared with a similar analysis of the correlates of sleep duration and sleep quality. It is concluded that sleep latency represents an important measure of well-being. more...

Associations between anthropometric variation and reproductive performance have important ecological and evolutionary implications. Bivariate associations between measures of reproductive performance (live births and offspring still living at the time of interview) and 24 anthropometric variables were examined in 150 females, aged 21-44 years, from the Eastern Highlands district of Papua New Guinea. Where significant linear or curvilinear associations with age existed, the reproductive and anthropometric variables were age-corrected. Linear, quadratic and cubic regressions were computed for each bivariate regression of age-corrected reproductive variable on age-corrected anthropometric trait. Positive linear regressions were found in the cases of body weight, triceps skinfold and head breadth. Positive cubic regressions were found in the cases of upper arm circumference, calf circumference, bicondylar femur and wrist breadth. It is suggested that these associations may reflect important ecological factors which influence both anthropometric and reproductive variation. U-shaped associations were found in the cases of wrist breadth and bicondylar femur. Inverted U-shaped associations were found for stature, sitting height, bizygomatic diameter and morphological face height. These curvilinear associations may be interpreted in terms of natural selection, and suggest that stature and sitting height may be undergoing stabilizing selection in this population. more...

During the Australian/British IBP studies on KarKar Island and at Lufa in the Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, information was collected on the epidemiology and genetic constitution of the same subjects. Advantage of this special situation has been taken to determine whether any associations exist between the genetic markers and the disease states. Those found and which appear real include Rhesus D(u) with proteinuria; MN with splenomegaly and hepatomegaly; Ss with parotid enlargement; acid phosphatase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogense and haemoglobin J- Tongariki with presence of malarial parasites; phosphoglucomutase with proteinuria and parotid enlargement; haptoglobin with proteinuria and with splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. These associations are discussed in terms of the probabilities of their arising from heterogeneity in population structure, linkage disequilibrium and pleiotropy. more...

Some body composition changes during lactation in women of Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea, suggest that body fat reserves, measured by changes in weight, diminish during the course of lactation and that subcutaneous fat reserves diminish with parity. The data are discussed in terms of the possible nutritional control of fertility of women in a subsistence economy. more...

An analysis has been undertaken of the comparative magnitudes of the within-population variability in stature and body weight as reported in the recent literature. The distributions of the variability have been investigated for patterns related to latitude, altitude, 'affluence' and the mean value of the measurements. It is shown that differences in stature variability are substantially explained by differences in mean stature only. This however, is not the case with weight variability where, in addition to the mean, there is evidence of independent effects of affluence, altitude, and especially latitude. In most populations the weight of females is more variable than that of males. This is considered to be due to their greater amounts of fat, and differing levels of fat may also explain much of the geographical patterns in weight variability. more...

A study has been made of social class distributions and their effects on marital movement in the city of Oxford from 1837 to the present day. The data have been obtained from the marriage registers of nine ecclesiastical parishes which transect the city. There is marked social class heterogeneity according to district, but when the data are combined some striking relationships between occupation and the distributions of marital distance emerge. In general distance decreases and amounts of city endogamy increase almost linearly as one moves from Class I to Class V. There appears to be, however, no very great increase in marital distance in this century as compared with the situation in the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century. Some of the differences between the social classes are due to differences in marital age, but even after this has been taken into account there remains a very statistically significant relationship between class and marital movement. more...