EN
This paper presents the results of a research on the effect of parents’ education and family size on physical development of a 1950-strong sample population of Zielona Góra’s children aged 5 – 14. The study was conducted during the school year of 1996/97 in randomly selected kindergartens and primary schools. The single-variable analysis of the variance confirms the hypothetical effect of the investigated factors on physical development of boys and girls. The results of F-Snedecora test showed that somatic features in boys were most affected by the number of children in a family, while in girls — by mother’s education. The analysis of standardised mean values of the features and the results of comparisons using NIR test show that in the categories of father’s education, mother’s education and family size higher level of physical development is characteristic of boys and girls who do not have any siblings and whose parents have higher or secondary education.