HEALTH SURVEY IN PACIFIC
U. 8. ARMED FORCES MEDICAL JOURNAL
Earlier marriages for women than for men resulted in a much
higher proportion of married females than males in the 15- to 19-year
age group, 30.2 percent for females as compared with 4.7 percent
for males. In all age groups up to 45 years of age, with the excep-
Table 3.
Average height by age group and sex
Saipan district
Palau district
Marshal! Islands
district
Age group (years).
tion of Palau’s 35- to 44-year age group, there were proportionately :
females than males. The reverse was true without»
more married
Cri
.
f
d
exception for those 45 years of age and over.
> Height and weight. The inhabitants of the trust territory were of
ee
;
|
.
“medium stature and weight. In the adult age groups the average
10 to 14
~ from 4 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 1 inch for females.. The average weight
~.. for males was from 133 to 145 pounds and for females from 112 to 135
- pounds.
Female
Male
Female
Male
53. 4
54.7
52, 4
53.3
Female
54.8
54.9
15 to 19
20 to 24
25 to 34
33 to 44
63.4
65.8
65.4
65.6
61.1
61.2
60.9
60.8
61.8
644
647
64.2
59.5
6.2
G01
50,9
83.1
65.4
65.8
651
50. 1
59.8
50.6
60.0
65 and over
63.1
59,1
62.2
57.9
63. 5
58.7
4.8
45 to 64
to 5 feet 6 inches for males .and
ranged . from 5 feet 2 inches
“height
x
:
Male
604
50.8
646
502
636
No generalizations may be made for the trust territory as a whole
Height and weight varied by district. For a given heightthe inhabitants of Saipan and Palau were heavier than those in the Marshall
Islands, with Saipan having a slight edge over Palau in this respect
(table 2). The difference was more marked for females than for
with respect to variations in median blood-pressure readings. Variations followed no consistent pattern in the districts. As normally
expected, median blood-pressure readings increased with age. This
males were noticeably shorter than in Saipan and the Marshall
Islands.
Marshall Islands (table 4).
increase was most rapid in the Saipan district. The median systolic
and diastolic readings were generally higher for males than for
males. It may be noted in table 3 that the inhabitants of Saipan
were slightly taller than those of the other two districts. In Palau
Blood-pressure readings.
Blood-pressure readings were taken for
.
over 60 percent of the population.
Only one reading was taken for
.
*
females, with the smallest difference between sexes occurring in the
a Table 4.
*
MES
each individual and all readings were taken routinely during the
:
.
Average weight, by height and
sex, of 44-year age group
inches)
sal
Pat
district
district
aipan
Height (inches
and sex
alau
Marshall
Ma
Islands
.
60 to 62
130.6
128. 5
122. 4
63 toee
131.9
.
149.3
ant
7.
135.9
138.3
.
133.1
134.4
ale
Sia
Male
j
oon
Male
F
]
emale
_
180.0
*
144
*
t
126.2
1.8
.
‘
180.2
*No femaies over 65 inches in height.
1204
eo
5
a
,
Male
Female
Saipan
“;.
Average weight (pounds)
123.5
w2.9
*
160-9
*
15 to ie segroup
;
District and sex
course of the examination.
Table 2.
Median systolic and diastolic blood pressure by age group and sex
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Systolic
Diastolic
Systolic
119
69
124
76
135
80
118
70
122
74
125
75
116
76
77
125
78
113
a
:
=
Diastolic
17
Marshall Islands
:
45 and over age group
year:
Systolic
113
Palau
25 to if age group
a
70
69
T4
115
119
118
7
73
70
76
132
122
130
Diastolic
79
79
DISEASE PREVALENCE
American occupation forces found the health of the islanders generally poor and their needs for medical and surgical care extremely
:
.
oe
.
*
.
* pressing. The conditions under which the native population had
s. been forced to live during World War II, wartime diets of low
ee
.
.
.
.
calorie content, and the inadequacy of medical treatment received
prior to and during the war hadall left their mark.
VOLUME 10, NO. 10 =OCTOBER 1959
1205