Introduction. Given the unfavorable economic conditions prevailing in Poland at the turn of the century (system transformation), it seemed advisable to investigate whether parents' education, generally associated positively with the economic situation of the family, still plays an important role in somatic and motor development of their children. Material and methods. The study involved 715 boys, aged 10, 14 and 18, born in the years 1988-1996 and coming from one of the least economically developed region of the country (Lubelskie Vivodeship). Because of parents' education, respondents were divided into two groups: born in families with higher (A) and lower (B) education. Somatic development was assessed based on measurements of height, weight and BMI, and physical fitness on the basis of Eurofit test. Arithmetic means of the somatic and fitness features was normalized according to the arithmetic means and SD of the whole material. Results. Group A was characterized by higher values of the somatic parameters and lower values of motor parameters as compared to group B. Standardization of the results showed that the larger deviation from the average value for the whole material in most somatic and certain fitness features occurred in group B. Conclusions. Despite the unfavorable economic conditions, in which surveyed boys were born and grew up, there was a positive relationship between education of parents and somatic development. This dependency was not observed in the case study of the impact of education of parents on the physical fitness of boys.
