From 1979 to 1989, growth in U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to only 2.5 percent per year. From 1989 through the first half of 1992, growth has slowed further to only 0.5 percent, with growth reduced about 2 percent below normal due to transitory cyclical factors. Thus, either way you look at it, what is alternately termed trend, secular, steady-state, or capacity growth has slowe...

 ABSTRACT Background: Secular trends in stature, weight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 2397 school children (1268 boys and 1129 girls) of the same age (6.5-11.5 years) and sex in representative samples from primary schools of Shiraz (southern Iran) at an interval of 15 years (1988 vs 2003) are reported. Methods: Cross-sectional weight, height and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) cu...

[1] A gap in the total solar irradiance (TSI) measurements between ACRIM-1 and ACRIM-2 led to the ongoing debate on the presence or not of a secular trend between the minima preceding cycles 22 (in 1986) and 23 (1996). It was recently proposed to use the SATIRE model of solar irradiance variations to bridge this gap. When doing this, it is important to use the appropriate SATIRE-based reconstru...

Considerable evidence suggests that malnutrition affects human performance, health and survival, including physical growth, morbidity, mortality, cognitive development, reproduction, physical work capacity and risks for several adult-onset chronic diseases. In recent decades, development agencies and governments have emphasized selective interventions to improve health and nutritional status, s...

Menarcheal age was estimated for 287 (188 Black; 99 White) urban South African girls born in Soweto-Johannesburg in 1990. The median menarcheal age for Blacks was 12.4 years (95% confidence interval (CI) 12.2, 12.6) and 12.5 years (95% CI 11.7, 13.3) for Whites. Data from six studies of menarcheal age, including the current study, were analyzed to examine the evidence for a secular trend betwee...

Postnatal growth is based on hereditary signals and environmental factors in a complex regulatory network. Each factor must be in an optimal state for normal growth of the child. Fetal conditions may also have consequences on postnatal height. Intrauterine growth retardation can be recovered postnatally, although postnatal growth remains depressed in about one-third of cases. After birth, the e...

Since the 19th century there have been clearly documented secular trends to increasing adult height in most European countries, with current rates of 10-30 mm/decade. Over the same period menarcheal age has also fallen steeply, but has now stabilized at approximately 13 years and may be rising again. Height trends tend to be greater in childhood than in adulthood due to the associated advance i...