79 Anthrop. Közl. 53; 7990. (2012) THE BODY SRTUCTURE AND THE HEALTH STATUS OF CHILDREN LIVING IN THE DISADVANTAGED MICRO-REGIONS OF HUNGARY Éva B. Bodzsár 1 , Annamária Zsákai 1 and Katalin Tausz 2 1 Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Biological Anthropology, Budapest; 2 Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Social Work and Social Policy, Budapest Abstract: In 2001 the Hungarian Cabinet named the statistical small regions that counted as endangered and needed development. Our aim was to find out whether essential differences exist in the physical development, the nutritional status and the psychosomatic status of children living in the seriously deprived small regions when compared to the Hungarian national references. Altogether 3,128 children (aged 3–18 years) living in the deprived small regions of Hungary were examined. Their biological status was compared to the national references (2nd Hungarian National Growth Study 2003–2006). Children‟s body development was assessed by some absolute body dimensions. The nutritional status was estimated by BMI by dividing the subjects into „underweight‟, „normal‟, „overweight‟ and „obese‟ categories. A standard symptom list was used to characterise the psychosomatic status. The subjects were asked to rate their health status in terms of excellent, good, fair and poor. The body development of children living in serious deprivation significantly differed, i.e. wasretarded compared to the national references in the age-groups 7–9 and 14–17 of boys and in the age-groups 4–6 and 14–17 of girls. The prevalence of underweight nutritional status was significantly higher in children and adolescents living in the seriously deprived regions than the national references. The prevalence of overweight and obese children in the deprived regions did not differ from the national references. The body developmental retardation reflected in the health status of children and adolescents living in the deprived regions, since they rated their health status worse and they experienced more psychosomatic complaints (abdominal discomfort and fear) than the national references. The results of the present study can provide reliable data on the basis of which recommendations can be formulated and measures applicable in social, medical and public welfare policy can be shaped. Keywords: Disadvantaged micro-regions; Body development; Body composition; Nutritional status; Subjective health status; Children; 2nd Hungarian National Growth Study (2003–2006). Introduction It has been known since a very long time that children living under varying socioeconomic conditions show remarkable differences in their physical development. Numerous auxological studies evidenced that the better economic health and wellness in a society the smaller differences could be found among the biological status of the socio- economic strata, e.g. in the growth and development pattern of children living in different socioeconomic backgrounds (Villermé 1828, Quételet 1835, Tanner 1962, Eveleth and Tanner 1990, Bodzsár and Susanne 1998, Zsákai és Bodzsár 2012a, b). Sociodemographic conditions, the type of the region’s settlements, the grade of urbanization, medical and educational resources and institutions, professional composition, regional social policy as well as developmental concepts for the respective