Türk Çocuklarının Buluğ Yaşı Üzerinde Araştırmalar

Department of Anthropology and Ethnology Ord. Prof. Dr. Şevket Aziz Kansu

An Investigation On The Age At Puberty in Turkish Children

The series studied to determine the age at puberty in Turkey includes 507 women and 4155 men.

In the total female series the minimum age at puberty is 10 years and the maximum age at puberty

minimum is 9 and the maximum The age at puberty

is 18 19 years.

years. In the male series the

Women men 9 — 1 10

1

In Turkey the average age at puberty is 14 years, 2 months and 13 days for girls and 14 years, 3 months and 18 days for males (see Map No. 2). The difference between the female and male series is 1 month, 5 days and is statistically significant.

The female and male series have also been subdivided into geog-raphic regions t according to the birth place of the individuals.

The age at puberty in the geographic regions of Turkey

Regions Age Months Days

Black Sea

Girls (75 individuals) 14 2 25

Boys (813 individuals) 14 3 14

TÜRK ÇOCUKLARININ BOLÛĞ YAŞI OZDRINDE ARAŞTIRMALAR 527 Marmora Girls (121 individuals) Boys (487 individuals) 14 14 2 8 23 Agean Giriş (123 individuals) 14 14 Boys (548 individuals) 14 1 16 Mediterranean Girls (110 individuals) 14 18 Boys (793 individuals) 14 4 9 Central Anatolia Girls (55 individuals) 14 6 21 Boys (947 individuals) 14 5 Eastern Anatolia Girls (23 individuals) 14 10 9 Boys (482 individuals) 14 4 20

South Eastern Anatolia

Boys (68 individuals) 14 2 22

The minimum average age at puberty is observed in the Agean area (14 years and 14 days) and the highest in Central Anatolia (14 years, 10 months and 14 days). The lowest average for males is seen in the Marmora region (14 years, and 23 days) and the highest in Central Anatolia (14 years, 5 months and 1 day).

Taking into consideration the standard deviation and the percentage variations of the males and females (Table 5) in all the regions, it can be said that the girls in the Black sea, Marmora, Agean, Mediterranean and the castern Anatolian regiens and the Boys of the Central Anato- lian region are statistically homogeneous, in regard to the age at puberty. Considering the differences between the average temperatures no relation has been established between the climate and the age at puberty. But in a series of 793 males and 123 females it has been observed that the majority has reached the puberty in the warm season.

Number of individuals O 10

Warm season 321 40.5

Men Cold season 201 25.3

Unknown 271 34.2

793 100.0

2 In south eastern Turkey the age at puberty for the girls has not been deter-mined.

528 İBRAHİM IŞIKLAR

Warm season 62 50.41

Women Cold season 19 15.45

Unknown 42 34.14

123 100.0

In the male series of the Black Sea, Mediterranean, Eastern Ana-tolian and the Marmora 3 regions the coefficients of correlation between

the age at puberty and the various anthropological measurements and

indices have been calculated (Table 11). The results obtained are giyen below :

1 — The correlation between the age at puberty and stature is negative but strong in the Mediterranean ( r = — 0.7) and Marmora regions ( r = — 0.49 ). There is nö correlation in Black Sea and Eastern Anatolian regions.

2 — There is no correlation or significant correlation between the age at puberty and weight. In Black Sea region the coefficient is merely r = — 0.15.

3 — There is no correlation between the age at puberty and

indice squelique in any region.

4 — The coefficient of correlation between the age at puberty and the Robusticity index is as follows.

Black Sea region r = — 0.21

Mediterranean region r = — 0.2

Eastern Anatolian region r = — 0.29

5 — The coefficient of correlation between the age at puberty and the cephalic index is negative but considerably strong in the Medi-terranean region ( r = — 0.4 ). There is no correlation in other regions.

6 — The coefficient of correlation between the age at puberty and the facial index is negative but strong in Eastern Anatolia (r= — 0.9). The coefficient is merely ( r = 0.14) in Black Sea region and there

is no correlation in the Meaditerranean region.

7 — The coefficient of correlation between the age at puberty

and the nasal index is ( — 0.3) in Eastern Anatolia and merely

— 0.1 in the Mediterranen region. There is no correlation in the Black

Sea region.

8 — The coefficient of correlation between the age puberty and

indice cubique is negative but strong in Black Sea region ( r = — 0.6 ). The coefficient of correlation is merely — 0.1 in Eastern Anatolia and there is no correlation in the Mediterranean region.

3 in the Marmora region correlation with the stature and altitude has been