The Comparison of the Physical Characteristics between Boys and Girls at Puberty

사춘기 남녀 청소년의 인체 특징에 관한 비교 - 만 $10{\sim}14$세를 중심으로 -

The purpose of this study was to analyze the body measurements of boys and girls at puberty and to provide the fundamental data for pubescent apparel manufacturers to produce clothing that reflect their physical characteristics. A total of 549 boys and 529 girls aged between 10 and 14 were measured in the capital area from March 4 to April 3, 2004. Data were collected from 35 anthropometric items and 12 photographic items per a person. SPSS Ver. 12 program was used in data analysis including means, standard deviation, t-test and Duncan test. The main results of this study were as follows. They showed the significant difference of their growth in accordance with the increase of their ages. There were also the difference between boys and girls. As for height and length items, boys showed a slow growth at the age of $10{\sim}11\;and\;12{\sim}13$. Those at the age of $11{\sim}12\;and\;13{\sim}14$ showed rapid growth. That is, an active growth was followed by a slow growth and that phenomenon repeatedly occurred. On the other hand, girls showed remarkable growth at the age $10{\sim}11$ and the growth rate gradually slowed down afterward. Regarding circumference items, boys at the age of $11{\sim}12\;and\;13{\sim}14$ showed remarkable growth. This results showed that boys at the age of $11{\sim}12$ had vertical growth and horizontal growth at the same time and for those at the age of $13{\sim}14$, growth was more conspicuous in horizontal direction. Meanwhile, for girls, the growth rate was high at the age of $11{\sim}12$, somewhat later than the age of the growth of height and length. As for breadth-related items and depth-related items, for both sexes two items grew steadily throughout the ages, breadth-related items showed a higher growth rate than that of depth-related items. This study analyzed the body measurements of pubescent boys and girls and the results showed that, for boys, an active physical growth took place at the age of 13 according to previous studies, but the findings of this study suggested that the phenomenon now occurred at the age of $11{\sim}12$, which proved that physical growth took place earlier than before. Also, an active growth was followed by a slow growth. Girls at puberty showed remarkable growth of height at the age of $10{\sim}11$ that is consistent with previous studies and then showed horizontal growth at the age of around 12, having a voluminous body shape.