Anthropometric Characteristics of Urban and Rural School Girls of District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

Abstract

This study was designed to compare the anthropometric characteristics of the urban and rural primary school girls of district Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. The recruited participants were (n = 300) urban girls and, (n = 300) rural girls of eight to ten years old. These instruments were used to measure the anthropometric variables as skinfold calliper for fat percentage, large bone caliper for bone length, small caliper for bone width, a stadiometer for stature, weightiness balance for weight, and one-meter tape for circumferences of the upper and lower limbs. An independent t-test was implemented to inspect the variation among urban and rural primary school girls. The statistical results depicted the urban girls were significantly superior to the rural girls in weight, circumferences of waist, pelvises, thigh, lengths of the arm and hand. The higher circumferences of waist, pelvises, thigh and weight show higher body fat percentage in urban school girls students than the rural school girls students. It was assumed, the urban school girls having good nourishment opportunity from various type of restaurants. On the other hand, urban girls may less involvement in physical activities than rural school girls. As a result, the urban girls were higher in fats and body mass than rural primary school girls. It is proposed for future research to examine the effects of anthropometry and nutrition on the physical fitness of urban and rural girl students.