Growth and Sexual Maturation of Adolescents Amongst Jukun and Kuteb Ethnic Groups of Taraba State

Growth and Sexual Maturation of Adolescents Amongst Jukun and Kuteb Ethnic Groups of Taraba State

CHAPTER ONE

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Aims of the Study 

The aim of this study is to assess physical growth and sexual maturation of Jukun and Kuteb adolescents.

Objectives of the Study

The study has been designed with the following objectives:

1. estimate the mean height, weight, and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the population and compare it with international values
2. estimate the mean age at menarche of adolescent girls from theJukun and Kutebethnic groups compare the onset of puberty and sexual maturation among the Jukun and Kuteb ethnic groups
3. assess the nutritional status of adolescents among Jukun and Kuteb ethnic group
4. generate growth reference values for adolescents among Jukun and Kuteb ethnic groups
5. Generate linear regression equation for sexual maturation of adolescents of Jukunand Kuteb using anthropometric variables.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

ADOLESCENT GROWTH AND SEXUAL MATURATION 

Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood, which comprises the age range from 10 to 19 years, characterized by intense bio-psychosocial transformations (WHO, 2005). Adolescence begins with the first notable changes of puberty, and in the course of puberty, the body is transformed in many ways and reaches the capacity for sexual reproduction(Behrman and Vaughan, 2002; Alsaker and Flammer, 2006). Puberty refers to the biological transition period between childhood and adulthood, ranging from individual to individual regarding the age of its onset and speed of changes, during which the secondary sexual characteristics begin to develop and the capability of sexual reproduction is achieved (Adami, 2007). Although adolescence is a culturally constructed period of life, the biological changes of puberty are a central part of development during adolescence in all cultures. Many changes take places are often dramatic (Hockenberry et al., 2007). Sexual maturity is a biological process and can be defined as the progression toward the mature state when specialization and cell differentiation occur (Malina and Bouchard, 1991; Rogol et al., 2002). After growing at a more or less steady rate through childhood, at some time early in the second decade of life children begin a remarkable metamorphosisthat includes a growth spurt, the appearance of pubic hair and underarm hair, changes in body shape, breast development and menstruation in girls, the appearance official hair in boys, and much more. The changes can be exciting and joyful, but adolescents experience them with other emotions as well— fear, surprise, annoyance, and anxiety(Becker, 2001; Shirtcliff et al., 2009).

Growth is a dominant biological activity during the first two decades or so of human life including, of course nine months of prenatal life. While growing the individual also matures. Growth is an increase in the size of the body as a whole or the size attained by specific parts of the body. It is a fundamental characteristic of all living organisms.The term development is frequently used along with growth and even considered synonymous by some people. But growth and development are not identical. The child is characterized by two fundamental facts – the growth and the development.Growth means the increase in the size of the various parts and organs of the body by multiplication of cells and intercellular components during the period commencing from fertilization to physical maturity. Changes in size are outcomes of three underlying cellular processes: hyperplasia (increase in cell number); hypertrophy (increase in cell size) and accretion (increase in intercellular substance) (Sloboda et al., 2007).

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CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MATERIALS

Materials to use for this research work include:

• Weight scale (Hanson Company, Ireland)
• Myotape
• Harpenden portable Stadiometer
• Sliding caliper
• Holtain skinfold caliper
• Tanner staging scale

RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

The subjects that participated in the study were secondary school students from Takum Local Government Area, Taraba State. A random selection of secondary schools in Takum metropolis was made. Boys and girls from these schools were enrolled. Participants included junior and senior secondary schools students.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS 

ANALYSIS OF STUDY POPULATION

A total of six hundred (n=600) adolescents from secondary school students in Takum Local Government Area, Taraba State were enrolled in this study. The study comprised of 300 (150 males and 150 females) subjects each of Jukun and Kuteb origin. The age range of the study subjects is 10 – 20 years, while their mean age was 15.05 ± 2.89 years.

GROWTH AND ANTHROPOMETRIC VARIABLES

Cross sectional data was collected from subjects using a pre-designed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of the entire sample population is shown in Table 4.1. The mean age of Jukun and Kuteb Adolescents were 14.97 ± 2.86 and 15.14 ± 2.93 respectively. The results showed that Kuteb Adolescents have higher values compared to their Jukun counterparts except in Subscapular Skinfold, umbilical skinfold and waist-chest ratio, but these differences were not statistically significant.

Fig. 4.1 to 4.8 shows the comparison of anthropometric parameters of Jukun and Kuteb adolescents based on sex (Appendix V). The result showed that the females of the two ethnic groups had higher values in most of the anthropometric variables except in height, neck circumference and Waist-chest ratio (Kuteb only),most of these differences were statistically significant.

Comparison of boys of the two ethnic groups showed no statistical significant difference, but Kuteb boys had higher anthropometric values than Jukun boys in most of the variables except waist hip ratio, waist chest ratio, waist height ratio, subscapular skinfold and umbilical skinfold. Comparison of girls of the two ethnic groups also did not show any statistical significant difference, but Kuteb girls had higher values compared to their Jukun counterparts except in height, thigh circumference, waist-chest ratio, subscapular skinfold and umbilical skinfold.

CHAPTER FIVE 

DISCUSSION

The beginning of biological growth and development during adolescence is signified by the onset of puberty, which is often defined as the physical transformation of a child into an adult (Kaplowitz et al., 2001). A myriad of biological changes occur during puberty including sexual maturation, increase in height and weight, completion of skeletal growth accompanied by a marked increase in skeletal mass, and changes in body composition (Marshal, 1978; Sisk and Foster, 2004). The succession of these events during puberty is consistent among adolescents (Hazenet al., 2008, Mei et al., 2008), however, there may be a great deal of deviation in the age of onset, duration, and tempo of these events between and within individuals (Rogolet al., 2002; Gasser et al., 2000).

In this study of Jukun and Kuteb adolescents, their growth parameters and anthropometric measurements showed no statistical significant difference based on ethnicity, indicating that they might be genetically a homogenous group, but there was statistical significant difference based on sex in most of the variables, showing that the population exhibits sexual dimorphism as will be expected. The boys had higher values than girls in only height, neck circumference and waist-chest ratio.

The comparison of the height for age curves of the present sample with international references (CDC 2000; WHO 2007) indicates that adolescents from this study are not as tall as their peers from these references. For boys, their heights between ages 10 to 12 coincided with the 50^th percentiles of the references, while at ages 13 to 15, it was around the 15^th percentiles. From ages 16 and above, it was observed that the heights of the boys was around the 3^rd percentile values of the international reference.  The females from this sample had values that were very close to the reference and their heights coincided with the 50^th percentile of reference from across all the ages. This is because females tend to show a higher growth rate during the first half of second decade while in males it is during the second half of the second decade (Tortura and Anagnostakos, 1990; Malina, 1991). Thus males have additional time for growth since the age of puberty is 2 years late in males as compared to females.

CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY 

The present cross sectional study investigated the growth and sexual maturation of adolescents of Jukun and Kuteb ethnic groups of Taraba State, the influence of some anthropometric measurements on growth was studied, an estimate was made of the mean menarcheal age of the respondents while also assessing their sexual maturation and nutritional status. Materials used in the study included weighing scale, skinfold caliper, myo tape and the Tanner staging scale.

Results of the growth parameters and anthropometric measurements of the adolescents showed no statistical significant difference based on ethnicity, showing that they might be a homogenous group genetically, but there was statistical significant difference based on sex in most of the variables, showing that the population exhibits sexual dimorphism. The boys had higher values than girls in only height, neck circumference and waist-chest ratio.

The plotted growth curves of BMI, height and weight of the population with  international references showed that the boys had lower values than the reference population and in some cases matching the 15^th percentile of the reference population, while the girls from both ethnic groups had values similar and in some cases such as BMI higher than the reference population.

The nutritional assessment of the population also showed that the prevalence of stunting, thinness and overweight among boys and girls was 22.4%,11.7% and 1.1% in boys, and 2.9%, 1.1% and 3.9% in girls respectively.

Results of the study showed late maturation among the adolescents, especially among males. The mean age at onset of sexual maturation in pubic hair was 11.77 ± 0.87 for Jukun boys and 11.88 ± 1.42 for Kuteb boys. For females, it was 11.25 ± 0.90 for Jukun girls and 11.50±1.14 for Kuteb girls. Age at onset of breast development (corresponding to stage 2) for females was 11.17 ± 1.04 (Jukun) and 11.12 ± 1.11 (Kuteb) respectively. For males, age at entry of genital development was 11.65± 0.86 (Jukun) and 11.65 ± 1.43 (Kuteb). The age at onset of puberty of this study corresponded with other previous, but it took longer time for the population to reach adult size, hence there is a form of delay in the other higher maturation stages. Age at completion of sexual development in PH and BS for females was 17.68± 1.43 and 17.63± 1.43 (Jukun); 17.80 ± 1.59 and 17.44 ± 1.68 (Kuteb) respectively. For males it was 18.09± 1.40 and 18.23± 1.31 (Jukun), 18.21± 1.25 and 18.13 ± 1.38 (Kuteb). There was statistical significant difference between boys and girls of both ethnic groups at stage 3 for PHS, and stage 3 and 5 for GS_BS.

CONCLUSION

In this study of Jukun and Kuteb adolescents, their growth parameters and anthropometric measurements showed no statistical significant difference based on ethnicity, showing that they might be a homogenous group genetically, but there was statistical significant difference based on sex in most of the variables, showing that the population exhibits sexual dimorphism.

The result of this study has shown that the weight and BMI of girls of the two ethnic groups were significantly higher than their boys, while boys had higher values for height than the girls, this difference was statiscally significant among Kuteb boys and Kuteb girls.

Comparison of the height, weight and BMI of the population with international reference showed that the boys had very low values compared with these references, while the girls had values that were close to the reference and even exceeding the reference values at some age categories.

The mean menarcheal age of Jukun and Kuteb girls was 13.49 ± 1.02 and 13.55 ± 1.17 respectively. Jukun girls had lower age at menarche, but this difference was not statistically significant.

The present study showed that the age at onset of puberty for PH and GS_BS was early and compared favorably with other studies, but there was late maturation into adult size.

At the end of the study, a growth reference table with some anthropometric variables were generated for both sexes.

RECOMMENDATION 

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:

• improvement of the nutritional level of adolescents should be given top
• Further research on individual and group variations in timing, tempo and duration of sexual maturation process should be carried
• There should be introduction of growth monitoring/promotion activities not only at child health clinics, but in all schools

REFERENCES

• Abdel-Malek, A.K., Ahmed, A.M., Sharkawi, S.A., and Hamid, N.M. (1990). Prediction of stature from hand measurement. Forensic Science International; 46(3): 181- 7.
• Abidoye, R.O., and Ihebuzor, N.N. (2001). Assessment of nutritional status using anthropometric methods on 1-4 year old children in an urban ghetto in Lagos, Nigeria. Nutritional Health, 15: 29-39.
• Acheson, R.M. (1966). Maturation of the skeleton. In: Falkner F, ed. Human Development. Philadelphia, Pa, USA: Saunders, 465–502.
• Adachi-Mejia, A.M., Longacre, M.R., Gibson, J.J., Beach, M.L., Titus-Ernstoff, L.T., and Dalton, M.A. (2007). Children with a TV in their bedroom at higher risk for being overweight. International Journal of Obesity, 31: 644-651.
• Adami, F., and Obesidade, E. (2007). Maturação Sexual Precoce: um Estudo  Transversal com Escolares em Florianópolis – SC. Florianópolis, SC: UFSC.
• Adolescents’ nutrient and dietary intake (2014): The gap adolescent nutrition: A review of the situation in selected South-East Asian countries. Available from: http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Nutrition_for_Health_and_Development_ Adolescent_Nutrition_%28Nut-163%29.pdf. [Accessed on 2014 Feb 18].
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• Akinpelu, A.O., Oyewole, O.O., and Oritogun K.S. (2009). Reference growth values for adolescents aged 12-18 years in a Nigerian community. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 12(1).

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