SEXUAL DIFFERENCES IN ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS IN FRENCH NEWBORNS

Sexual differences in anthropometric measurements have been studied in a sample of 17,787 preterm and full-term infants, born between 1980 a nd 1990 in the maternity of Clamart Hospital (Hauts-de-Seine, France). Body weight, body length, head and chest circumferences were found si gnificantly larger in male newborns. Conversely, the subscapular and t ricipital skinfold thicknesses had higher values in females. Such grea ter fatness in females could be related to the better outcome in neona tes of this sex. The weight-for-height indices, however, did not show this female advantage: the body mass index (BMI) and the body weight/b ody length index were greater in male neonates, the ponderal index (PI ) showed no sexual difference.