The features of total body size and body mass index in adolescents living at different distances from an unfavorable focus of an environmental disaster: a case study of the southern Aral Sea region

The growing part of the population is the most sensitive to environmental factors, so it is important to study the features of physical development of children and adolescents born and living in extreme environmental conditions. In spring 2023, we conducted a somatometric examination of 1523 adolescents 14-15 years old living in different districts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. It was found that the total body dimensions of adolescents living in an ecologically unfavorable area are statistically lower than those of their peers living in ecologically "clean" areas. In adolescents examined in different neighborhoods, body mass index (BMI) is not differentiated by various deviations. Consequently, living in certain areas of the Aral Sea region is not a factor contributing to underweight or overweight.