Overview

This volume is dedicated to the study of growth and development from the points of view of public health and epidemiology. Many scientists agree that human physical growth and development represent a sensitive response to environmental conditions. From an epi- demiological point of view, physical growth and development can be taken as a primary measure of the level of public health or of the quality of the environment. Reduced growth, smaller body size for instance, can be regarded as a response to adverse environmental conditions, as an indicator of environmental pressures. On the other hand, physical growth and development can also be viewed as development plasticity and as a strategy for human adaptation. However, various environmental ef- fects cannot be isolated from the genetic factors which determine the individual background and the potential limits of growth. The aim of this volume is to evaluate these genetic and en- vironmental influences as well as their interactions. Methodological work is therefore necessary, including, among others, mathematical methods summarizing the growth curve of an individual and predictinB the adult stature from measurements taken during childhood. Of course, methodological aspects are also implied in the way sampling is done and in the way surveys are conducted. And last but not least, methodological aspects are involved in the estimation of heritability during growth and development.