The authors report few findings concerning estimation of specific body surface area ( : s = body surface area body weight) in early elementary school years and that of age at peak height velocity (: PHV) of stature that appears when assessing the standard values for longitudinal 1/s according to rate of maturity. The subjects of the study were 81 boys for whom data concerning stature and weight measured in April each year from elementary school to high school was obtained. Those who

more »

... in extracurricular sports less than 3 days per week for both high school and middle school were considered nonathletes. Those who participated in extracurricular sports 5 days a week or more were considered athletes. The data included stature and weight measured in April each year from elementary school to high school for 74 subjects that participated in rugby beginning in junior high school and 56 who participated in boxing beginning in high school. Standard charts according to longitudinal maturity type of 1/s were used for estimation of 1/s. As a result, rank correlation of 1/s in early elementary school years and that of age at PHY of stature in non-athletes was 0.634 ; a significant correlation of 1% level was observed. The values of 0.805 for those participating in rugby and 0.826 for those participating in boxing were both higher than the rank correlation factor for non-athletes who were subjects of the study. When examining longitudinal 1/s of individuals whose estimation for early elementary school years was below the 25 percentile curve and above the 75 percentile, it was observed to increase with age and a difference in 1/s was observed in individuals of the same age, with the value being higher for athletes than for non-athletes.