The effects of vegan and traditional diets on five anthropometric measurements in children birth through five years of age
Abstract
Height (or recumbent length) , weight, head circumference, triceps
skinfold thickness, and subscapular skinfold thickness
measurements were recorded on a total of 52 Ss following 2
different diets: vegan and traditional, Of the 26 children
in each diet group, 14 were male and 12 were female.
An analysis of covariance, with age as the covariate, was
calculated on the anthropometric readings. No significant
difference was found between the 5 measurements of vegan and
traditional Ss.
A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was carried out on 6
intra-group correlations among the measurementsr weight/triceps,
weigh t$subscapular , weigh t/he ight , triceps/subscapular ,
height/triceps, and height/subscapular . The correlations
between weight/height and triceps/subscapular were significant
at p < .05 in all 4 diet-sex groups, male vegan, female vegan,
male traditional, and female traditional.
A Fisher's Zf Transformation was calculated on the above 6
correlations on an inter-group basis. No significant difference
was found at p < .05
A 24-hour Diet Recall and a Diet History Questionnaire were
administered to the mothers of the Ss. Group mean scores were
calculated for a11 5 body measurements. In addition,
anthropometric findings were descriptively examined in relation
to 1976 National Center for Health Statistics Growth Norms,
It was concluded from this study that the vegan and traditional
children were not significantly different in 5 anthropometric
measurements. Among other variables, d i e t was shown to have
no significant impact on these body measurements when comparing
vegan and traditional Ss.
Subject
Children - Anthropometry
Diet - Physiological aspects
Vegetarianism - Physiological aspects