Changes in body height throughout extended historic periods are very complex and dynamic processes. This pilot study aimed to investigate the pattern of longitudinal height z-scores changes in children before and after entering kindergarten. In summer 2016, we measured height and weight of 32 children from 4 groups of two kindergartens aged 3-6 years. All ages were centered according to the age of entry into the kindergarten. For each child we determined mean z-scores for height before and after entering the kindergarten, and assessed the variances for each kindergarten group. Twenty-two children targeted in height z-scores towards average height of their respective kindergarten group, 10 children did not. Due to the small numbers, the convergence in height variance however, remained insignificant (chi-squared independence test, p = 0.127). Additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm this pilot study.

Biological Anthropology Faculty of Medicine University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany

Evolutionary Biology and Animal Ecology Institute of Biology 1 Faculty of Biology University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany

Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Charles University Prague Czech Republic

University of Potsdam Human Biology Am Neuen Palais 10 14469 Potsdam Germany

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