Cross-sectional Survey of Growth of Urban and Rural ‘‘Cape Coloured’’ Schoolchildren: Anthropometry and Functional Tests M. HENNEBERG 1* AND G.J. LOUW 2 1 Biological Anthropology Research Programme, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia 2 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa ABSTRACT The patterns of physical growth (height, weight, length of body segments, circumferences, and widths) and function (grip strength, re- flexes, and pulse rates) of ‘‘Cape Coloured’’ schoolchildren were studied. Ur- ban and rural groups were selected with maximum contrasting socioeconomic status (SES). Data were collected between 1986 and 1988 and included 906 males and 1,068 females of high SES between 5 and 20 years in the Cape Town urban area and 834 males and 940 females of low SES between 5 and 19 years in the Little Karoo region. Means and standard deviations of 20 characteristics by age are presented separately for males and females and urban and rural groups. The heights and weights of prepubertal urban chil- dren match American reference data, but postpubertally they decline some- what, whereas these measurements of the rural children consistently lie ∼1 standard deviation below the urban group. Skinfold thicknesses of urban children match or exceed the American reference, implying that their nutri- tional needs are being met well. Functional indicators of rural children are much poorer than those of urban children. The results of the urban children may provide a target for the improvement in growth status of rural children. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:73–85, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Studies of child growth are conducted for two reasons: to assess the environmental conditions in which the growth of a child occurs, and for the understanding of general patterns of physical development and their determinants. Patterns of growth have con- siderable impact on human biological diver- sity. They differ between developed and de- veloping countries, urban and rural popula- tions within a country, and between sexes. Growth studies in South Africa were con- ducted as early as 1935, when Domissie and Leipolt (1936) recorded the ages of ossifica- tion of the carpal bones in 200 so-called Co- loured and European children. In the same year, Brown (1935) examined the heights, weights, chest circumferences, and age at menarche of 18,000 European children be- tween the ages of 6 and 18 years. Since then, a number of other studies were con- ducted, most concentrating on either white children (Cluver et al., 1946; Grobbelar, 1964) or black children (Kark, 1953; Wag- staff and Geefhuiseen, 1974; Hugo- Hamman et al., 1987; Cameron et al., 1988, 1992, 1993; Kgamphe et al., 1988; Cameron and Kgamphe, 1993), or a sample of several groups (Fellinngham, 1966; Smit 1967, 1971; Richardson, 1977, 1978). Very few studies (Woodrow and Robertson, 1950) con- centrated specifically on the growth of Cape Coloured children, who are members of a unique population that is not a result of simple mixing between blacks and whites. The number of characteristics in previous studies has usually been limited to height Contract grant sponsors: Medical Research Council (SA), Foundation for Research Development and the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand. *Correspondence to: M. Henneberg, Department of Anatomi- cal Sciences, University of Adelaide Medical School, Adelaide 5005, South Australia. E-mail: mhennebe@medicine.adelaide.edu.av Received 16 March 1995; Accepted 19 February 1997 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY 10:73–85 (1998) © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.