Processes of maturation and senescence in two communities of Punjab (India) as studied from some morphological measures.

The results of two series based on a large number of anthropometric measurements, one on males aged 10-21 years and the other on females aged 20 to 80 years on Jat-Sikh and Bania communities of the Punjab state (India), have been combined to study the processes of maturation and senescence in males and females, respectively. The male sample is constituted by 799 Jat-Sikhs and 421 Banias and the female sample is based on 502 Jat-Sikhs and 510 Banias. The results indicate that the adolescent spurt occurs at age 14.5 in the lean body measures in the males of both the communities. Though, the general pattern of development in attaining the adult status is univocal, marked differences have been observed in the tempo of growth. Generally, Jat-Sikhs have bigger lean tissue dimensions, while the Banias have significantly more amount of fat as indicated from the triceps skinfold. The females of Bania community show the onset of negative growth in stature from age group 20-24 onwards, while Jat-Sikh females show the occurrence of this trend from age 30-34 years onwards. The statural loss due to ageing and the effects of secular changes on stature have been separated.