Changes of the main body measurements in the late 20th - early 21st century (based on data published in foreign periodicals for the last 15 years)
Materials and methods. The article analyses modern changes in major body dimensions of young males and females in the late 20th - beginning of the 21st century, studies the results of body size secular trend, published for the last 15 years in foreign journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. It presents retrospective analysis of stature and weight dynamics, body mass index of 17-25 years old males and females from different countries and discusses modern theories that explain microevolutional major change in body build characteristics . Results and discussion. According to the results, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the refraction of several lines of secular trend happened. In developed European countries stature remains constant for the last 15 years, meanwhile body weight continues to increase. In the Asian countries in recent decades there was a rapid increase in height and body weight in boys, and an increase in height, associated with the stabilization of weight in girls. In other countries direction of secular dynamics of height and weight differed, depending on specific ecological, economic and social conditions. The Body Mass Index in most of the countries studied showed a stable increase at an average rate of 0.7 kg / m2. The exception was the data obtained for boys and girls from Serbia and China. This index showed a slight decrease at the beginning of the 21st century.