Somatotypological features of students in the conditions of radiation exposure to the environment

Introduction. The state of health and the level of physical development of modern youth is updated as the steady balance of environmental factors is disturbed. Issues of ecology and human survival are included in the line of priority world problems. The purpose of the study was a comparative study of the somatotypological features of boys and girls from different radioecological places of residence. 

Material and methods. The study involved 396 young men and 320 girls from radioecologically disadvantaged regions (REDR) of the Bryansk region and 970 young men and 962 girls from radio-ecologically safe regions,  the age of cases varied from 17 to 22 years. There were determined following main somatometric indices: length and body weight, chest circumference (CC). There was calculated a Pignet index (PI), characterizing the strong-built and body mass index (BMI, kg/m2). Information was processed using the Statistika 6.0 application package.

Results. According to the results of the work, the somatotypological features of the organism largely were shown to depend on the living conditions in which the genetic program of the individual’s development was installed. The calculated data showed the total dose of radiation during their stay in radioecologically to contaminate areas in the range from 35.7 mSv to 43.52 mSv. Low doses of radiation along with socio-economic factors influence the growth and development of the organism, which is manifested by a change in the number of boys and girls with “extreme” variants of somatotypes. In REDR the number of asthenics and hypersthenics increased by 2 times a decrease by 2 correspondingly. Boys have an increase in body weight, a decrease in CC, and presented short stature. Regardless of the somatotype, the index of body strength and BMI decreases. In girls, the number of asthenics increased by 1.4 times and the number of hypersthenics decreased by 1.5 times. The disharmony of development is manifested in an increase in body length with a decrease in CC. The weight varies in different directions. Body strength and BMI are reduced unidirectionally. In general, the dynamics of indices of physical development in girls indicates a more pronounced resistance of the female body to the effects of low doses of radiation.

Conclusion. The results of the study showed that small doses of radiation along with other social and economic factors influence the level of metabolic processes in the growing organism of young men and women, which is accompanied by changes in the morphological characteristics that underlie the somatotypological features.