A Comparative Study of the Structure of Nisei and of Native Japanese

An anthropometric examination was conducted of 3563 Niseis, who were born in the United States to parents of pure Japanese stock. As compared with the native Japanese adult, the stature of Nisei is 5 to 9.3cms. greater and the weight 9 to 12kgs. heavier. As shown in Figure 1, the mean growth curve of the Niseis from 6 to 15 years of age is strikingly similar to that of white Americans, but after that age the yearly growth in the case of the latter amounts to 12.8cms. till they become adults whereas in the case of Nisei and Japanese it amounts to only 5.5cms. The second generation Japanese in other countries, such as the Philippines, Sumatra, Korea and Manchuria, do not show such good records of growth, the fiqures falling below those of the native Japanese, by 1 to 4cms. in stature and 5 to 10kgs. in body weight.On the averge, the leg length of a Nisei is 2.8 to 8.3cms. greater and its ratio to his stature about 1.00 per cent larger than the corresponding figures for a Japanese, and, on the other hand, the sitting height of Nisei is shorter by about 1.2 per cent. It is concluded that leg length of the native Japanese has been shortened, and that their sitting height has increased, as a result of a limitation on growth due to the sedentary habit of daily life.The biparietal diameter of the head of the Nisei is larger by about 7mms.than that of the Japanese native with no variation in the occipito-frontal diameter. Therefore, the cephalic index work out on the average to 85 for Niseis, as against 81 for Japanese natives

Anthropometry · Archaeology · Body height · Body weight · Geography · Sociology · Body Composition Measurement Techniques · Demography · Internal Medicine · Medicine

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