Examinations of Physical Development of 9-17 Year Pupils among Some Ethnic Groups in Dien Bien Province

Abstract

This articles aims to provide data on the  Viet Nam children’s physical development. The author selected three ethnic groups:          the Kinh - the majority ethnic group of Viet Nam, and two ethnic minority groups of Thai and Hmong in Dien Bien Province as his researched groups. The results show that the body sizes (height, weight, circle of bent right hand, width of shoulder, thigh circle, waist size, behind circle, width of pelvis, width of hip) of the Kinh, Thai and Hmong pupils in Dien Bien Province yearly increase in both sexes. Most anthropometrical parameters of the Kinh pupils before puberty are bigger than those of the Thai and Hmong, but these differences are not quite clear when the pupils reach the age of puberty. The indicators of the physical force (Pignet and arm turnover indicators) of the 9-17 year Thai, Hmong and Kinh pupils in Dien Bien Province are relatively similar: both indicators are broadly distributed and they tend to decrease in accordance to the increase of the age.