The Influence of Social-economical Factors on the Morphofunctional Growth of Children Considering the Urbanisation Factor Aspect

We tried to prove that living conditions have a significant influence on somatic and functional development of children in Poland. We examined 331 11-year-old children (boys and girls) from the small town of Polkowice and villages in south-west Poland. Basic somatic traits were examined: body height, body weight and body fat. Functional traits were examined through motor trials from Eurofit test: hand grip, standing jump, ball throw, shuttle run and a tapping test of the upper arm. Additionally, psychomotor trials were performed: reaction time and eye-movement coordination. Children from the town and villages were divided into two groups on the basis of a social-economic factors – “the number of children in the family”. Four groups of children (boys and girls separately) were compared: urban children from families with 1–2 children, urban children from families with 3 or more children, rural children from families with 1–2 children and rural children from families with 3 or more children. We tried to estimate a hierarchy and directions of this environmental factor’s influence on body dimensions, conditional abilities and coordinational abilities. We used cluster analysis as a statistical method towards fulfilling this aim. The results showed that both factors analysed in elaboration are significant modifiers of somatic and functional traits. Boys seem to be, as a sex, more ecosensitive than girls.