Associate Professor, PhD Adam Wilczewski
Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education and Health, Biała Podlaska, Poland

Corresponding author: adam.wilczewski@awf-bp.edu.pl

Abstract

The objective of the study was to analyze the changes taking place in the physical development, the rate of reaching sexual maturity, and the physical fitness level of girls from southern Podlasie between the years 1980 and 2015 against the background of peers from Eastern Poland and nationwide research.

Methods and structure of the study. In order to implement the subject of the presented report, the results of studies from 1980 (9 074 girls), 1985 (8 182 girls), 2005 (1 907 girls), and 2015 (2 583 girls) were selected. The results of studies from southern Podlasie and the entire eastern region were compared with the results of nationwide studies. Using Martin’s measurement technique of height and weight, the results from individual stages of the research were normalized to the results of research from 1980. Using the "status quo" method, counting the fraction of already menstruating girls in relation to all respondents, the mean age of menarche was calculated using the probit method according to Finney. The level of physical fitness at individual stages of the researches was determined by the results of the International Physical Fitness Test.

Results and conclusions. Among the examined girls from southern Podlasie there were clear secular trends in increasing height and weight (2.28 cm and 1.27 kg per decade). A similar tendency occurred in the case of lowering the mean menarche age. Girls from southern Podlasie lowered the menarche age from 13.333 years in 1985 to 12.580 years in 2015. There was a clear decrease trend in the general physical fitness level in all analyzed environments. Particularly unfavorable changes occurred among the examined girls and their peers from the eastern region. While in the studies carried out in 1985 both groups obtained results exceeding the nationwide standards, in the following stages of the research they lost this advantage.

Keywords: girls, body height and weight, menarche age, physical fitness level, secular trends, environmental conditions.

Background. The socio-economic transformations that have been taking place in Poland for 35 years have a different course in different regions of the country. The eastern region of Poland, as a typical agricultural one, experienced the crisis of the 1980s quite mildly. The socio-systemic changes in the 90s and the first decade of 20 century resulted in many negative aspects. There is hope that the proper use of funds from various European Union programs, as well as those purposefully directed to this region, will stimulate an increase in standards of living of the Eastern Poland people. An objective measure of the changes taking place will be their positive impact on the pace of development of children and youth.

Objective of the study was to analyze the changes in the physical development, the rate of reaching sexual maturity, and the physical fitness level of girls from southern Podlasie between the years 1980 and 2015 against the background of peers from Eastern Poland and nationwide research.

Methods and structure of the study. In order to implement the subject of the presented report, the results of studies from 1980 (9 074 girls), 1985 (8 182 girls), 2005 (1 907 girls), and 2015 (2 583 girls) were selected. The results of studies from southern Podlasie and the entire eastern region were compared with the results of nationwide studies carried out by Waliszko et al. [1], Przewęda and Trześniowski [2], Przewęda and Dobosz [3] and Dobosz et al. [4]. Using the Martin’s  measurement  technique of height and weight, the results from individual stages of the research (the southern Podlasie, the eastern region and the whole country), were normalized to the results of my own research from 1980. The rate of sexual maturity was estimated based on the mean age of the menarche. Using the "status quo" method, counting the fraction of already menstruating girls in relation to all respondents, the mean age of menarche was calculated using the probit method according to Finney [5]. The level of physical fitness at individual stages of the researches was determined by the results of the International Physical Fitness Test. The analysis of changes taking place in the general physical fitness level was based on converting the results into T scale points [6].

Results and discussion. Comparing the results of the research (Fig. 1) obtained in the subsequent stages in relation to 1980, we notice a clear increase in body height. Between 1985 and 1980, girls from southern Podlasie became higher of 0.233 standard deviations, which was a slightly better result than their peers from the entire east region (0.202 SD). The greatest changes were recorded among girls from the nationwide studies (0.367 SD), however, it should be added that they started from a slightly higher level (0.151) recorded in 1980. As it was expected, a greater distance occurred in the second stage of the study (2005), girls from southern Podlasie increased their body height by 0.752 SD, although at this stage, the girls from the entire east region obtained a better result of 0.858 SD. The lowest level of changes occurred in the nationwide studies (0.662 SD). When assessing the changes in the period covered by the study (1980-2015), the examined girls from southern Podlasie increased their height by 1.169 SD, the girls from the eastern region of Poland became 1.32 SD higher, while the average height for the whole country girls increased by 0.954 SD.

Fig. 1 Changes in the body height of girls from southern Podlasie compared to their peers from the eastern region and nationwide research (values ​​normalized to the results of the 1980 research).

Similar relations of changes occurred in the case of body weight (Fig. 2). Girls from southern Podlasie in the first stage of the study (1980-1985) increased their body weight by 0.083 SD, in nationwide studies by 0.086 SD, while a slightly higher level was recorded among peers from the eastern region by 0.122 SD. In the studies carried out in 2005, the order was respected, girls from the eastern region increased their body weight by 0.356 SD, examined girls from all over the country by 0.332 SD, and a slightly lower level (0.233 SD) was found among the surveyed girls from southern Podlasie. In the years 1980-2015, girls from southern Podlasie became heavier by 0.642 SD, in the eastern region by 0.591 SD, and nationwide by 0.529 SD.

Fig. 2 Changes in body weight of girls from southern Podlasie compared to their peers from the eastern region and nationwide research (values ​​normalized to the results of the 1980 research).

Analyzing the changes in the mean age of menarche, results show a gradual decrease in the age of the first menstruation. In 1980 girls from southern Podlasie menstruated on average at the age of 13.406 (SD = 1.06) and thirty-five years later at the age of 12,580 (SD = 1.26) – the age of first menstruation decreased by 0.826 years. The results of studies carried out in 1980, 1983, and 1990 show a very slow rate of acceleration of the menarche age – only by 0.093 years per decade. After 1990, this process accelerated, and by 2015 girls from southern Podlasie lowered their menarche age by a further 0.733 years. Comparing the rate of menarche age changes of the examined girls to their peers from the eastern region and girls from nationwide studies (Fig. 3), it should be stated that the examined girls from southern Podlasie between 1985 (   = 13,333; SD = 1.10) and 2015 (   = 12,580; SD = 1.26) decreased the age of menarche by 0.75 year, while in the entire eastern region, the decrease was 0.81 year (1987 –  = 13.44, SD = 1.31; 2017 –  = 12.63, SD = 1.21). During the twenty years between 1985 and 2005, the average menarche age of girls from southern Podlasie decreased per decade by 0.26 years, while between 2005-2015 the pace of changes slightly decreased to 0.21 years. Similar changes occurred among girls from the entire eastern region of the country where between 1987 and 2007 decrease was 0.29 years per decade, and in the decade of 2007-2017, the decrease was also slower and amounted to 0.21 years. The nationwide research shows that over twenty years rural girls lowered their menarche age by 0.489, small-town girls by 0.356, and girls from large cities by 0.198, which per decade is respectively 0.244 in a rural environment, 0.178 in a small-town environment and 0.099 in a big city environment. A similar tendency occurs among the surveyed girls from southern Podlasie and the entire eastern region, reducing the distances between individual environments.

Fig. 3. Average menarche age of girls from southern Podlasie compared to their peers from the eastern region and nationwide research

Figure 4 presents changes in the general physical fitness level of the examined girls compiled with their peers from the discussed environments, expressed in the T-scale point values. The presented data illustrate the reduction of the general physical fitness level in all analyzed environments. In the studies carried out in 1985, the highest level of 53.65 points was reached by girls from the eastern region of the country, the examined from southern Podlasie were ranked at an almost identical level of 53.63 points. Both groups exceeded the level of 52.04 points set by girls from the nationwide research. The results of the research from 2005 show a much lower level of physical fitness, in the case of the study group it was 51.48 points and was slightly higher than the result of girls from nationwide research ​​(51.42). At this stage girls from the eastern region reached the worst score of 49.27 points. During the next decade (2005-2015) the rate of the decline in the physical fitness level increased even more. Girls from southern Podlasie reached the level of 48.91 points, their peers from the eastern region obtained 48.47 points. At this stage of the study, both groups were clearly worse than the girls from the nationwide survey, who managed to achieve 50.33 points despite the decline.

Fig. 4. Changes in the physical fitness level of girls from southern Podlasie compared to their peers from the eastern region and nationwide studies (values ​​presented in T scale points).

The presented results of changes in basic somatic parameters (height and weight) correspond with the authors' from other regions of the country. The secular trend in the physical development of children and adolescents was noted in the environment of Wrocław Kielce, Bydgoszcz, Warsaw, and Rzeszów. Furthermore, the high growth rate of basic somatic parameters was presented by Bielicki [7] based on extensive nationwide research conducted in 1955-1878. These studies also show the rapid rate of acceleration of the menarche age that occurred in all surveyed regions and social groups. The improvement in living conditions positively stimulated the lowering of the menarche age for rural and small-town girls [8]. This process was hampered by the social and economic crisis in the 70s and 80s of the last century. The rate of physical development and deceleration of the menarche age have stabilized, especially in the urban environment, and its negative effects have also been noted in the rural environment [8].

The assessment of changes in the physical fitness level is not so clear. The results of nationwide surveys from the turn of the 60s and 70s document a systematic improvement of the results obtained in the physical fitness tests [2]. However, during the last three decades, the process of lowering the physical fitness level was visible in the regional as well as nationwide researches [3, 4, 9]. The presented results document a further decrease in the physical fitness level of girls in the eastern region and southern Podlasie due to a decrease in endurance from 69.6 points in 1985 to 48.91 points in 2015, a decrease in the explosive force from 56.08 to 50.17, or the strength of the hands and shoulder girdle (hanging on a bar) from 59.66 points to 56.42. Similar changes in increasing somatic parameters and lowering the physical fitness level were noted even among academic youth studying courses such as physical education or sport [10].

Conclusions.

1. Among the examined girls from southern Podlasie and the entire eastern region, clear secular trends in increasing height and weight were observed. Per decade, the body height increased by 2.28 cm in southern Podlasie, by 2.04 cm in the eastern region, and in nationwide research by 1.64 cm. The secular trend of body weight per decade was at the level of 1.27 kg among the examined girls, 1.16 kg in the eastern region, and 1.17 kg in nationwide studies.
2. A similar tendency occurred in the case of lowering the mean menarche age. Girls from southern Podlasie lowered the menarche age from 13.333 years in 1985 to 12.580 years in 2015, while girls from the eastern region menstruated in 1987 at the age of 13.440 and thirty years later (2017) at 12.630 years of age. In nationwide research from 1980, the average menarche age among rural girls was 13.419, 13.156 in small towns and 12.828 in large cities, and two decades later it decreased to 12.93 in rural areas, 12.82 in small towns, and 12.63 in large cities.
3. There was a clear decrease trend in the general physical fitness level in all analyzed environments. Particularly unfavorable changes occurred among the examined girls and their peers from the eastern region. While in the studies carried out in 1985 both groups obtained results exceeding the nationwide standards, in the following stages of the research they lost this advantage. In 2015, they were definitely inferior to the girls from the nationwide research, and their physical fitness level did not exceed 50 points.

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