Abstract:

Objective: The objective ofthe study is to assess thephysical development of primary school children in Malatya urban area and to establish a standard by measuring the sitting height. Material and Methods: The primary schools and the children in Malatya urban area were selected randomly. 900 children (432 girls, 468 boys) aged 7-11 years old participated in this study. Anthropometric parameters including height, weight and sitting height were measured. The data were analyzed using SPSS 6.0. The means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values were calculated for each age and gender separately. The differences among the genders were determined by t-test. Results: It was determined that height increased together with age and in accordance with these, the sitting height increased. It was found that the mean sitting height of seven years old girls was 58.47 2.81 and that of eleven years old girls was 66.54 4.14, where the mean sitting height of seven years old boys was 60.78 3.02 and that of eleven years old boys was 66.56 3.44. A difference in terms of sitting height between boys and girls was determined. According to our data, it was found that the 7-11 age group boys have a greater average sitting height thanthat of girls. However, statistical significance was determined in the 7-10 age group (p Conclusion: Apositive correlationwas found between sitting height and age. Our findings werecomparedwith those of similar studies. School children of the Malatya have relatively lower sitting height than that of the other studies. The findings ofthe current study might be used as a standard for children of Malatya urban area.

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