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We examine the consequences of child health for economic and health outcomes in adulthood, using height as a marker of childhood health. After reviewing previous evidence, we present a conceptual framework that highlights data limitations and methodological problems that complicate the study of this topic. We then present estimates of the associations between height and a range of outcomes--including schooling, employment, earnings, health, and cognitive ability measured in five data sets from early to late adulthood. These results indicate that, on average, taller individuals attain higher levels of education. Height is also positively associated with better economic, health, and cognitive outcomes. These associations are only partially explained by the higher average educational attainment of taller individuals. We then use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults survey to document the associations between health, cognitive development, and growth in childhood. Even among children with the same mother, taller siblings score better on cognitive tests and progress through school more quickly. Part of the differences found between siblings arises from differences in their birth weights and lengths attributable to mother's behaviors while pregnant. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that childhood health influences health and economic status throughout adulthood.

Secular change in adult height of residents in a rural indigenous community in the Valley of Oaxaca was evaluated. Subjects were measured in 1971 (49 males, 26 females 19-70 years), 1978 (128 males, 124 females 19-82 years) and 2000 (155 males, 255 females 19-89 years). Heights were adjusted for estimated loss with age using two protocols; height at 21 years of age was also estimated. The effects of age and secular factors on measured and adjusted heights were evaluated through segmented linear regressions for three birth periods, KEY WORDS stature; indigenous populations; auxological epidemiology; health; living conditions; nutritional status DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21167

Taller populations are typically richer populations, and taller individuals live longer and earn more. In consequence, adult height has recently become a focus in understanding the relationship between health and wealth. We investigate the childhood determinants of population adult height, focusing on the respective roles of income and of disease. Across a range of European countries and the United States, we find a strong inverse relationship between postneonatal (ages I month to I year) mortality, interpreted as a measure of the disease and nutritional burden in childhood, and the mean height of those children as adults. Consistent with these findings, we develop a model of selection and stunting in which the early-life burden of undernutrition and disease not only is responsible for mortality in childhood but also leaves a residue of long-term health risks for survivors, risks that express themselves in adult height and in late-life disease. The model predicts that at sufficiently high mortality levels, selection can dominate scarring, leaving a taller population of survivors. We find evidence of this effect in the poorest and highest-mortality countries of the world, supplementing recent findings on the effects of the Great Chinese Famine.

Sex difference in 2D:4D digit ratio was studied in 386 right-handed students. The lengths of index (2D) and ring (4D) fingers were measured using a caliper. Height and weight of participants were recorded. Body height correlated negatively with right- and left-hand digit ratios in the total sample (N=386); correlations were significant for the left-hand digit ratio of men and for the right-hand digit ratio of women (no significant correlations with weight). Males had a significantly lower 2D:4D ratio than females. After controlling for height, sex differences in right- and left-hand digit ratios completely disappeared. The results suggest that height of adults reflecting prenatal hormone status may play a role in differences between men and women in 2D:4D digit ratio for right-handers.

Body mass index (BMI, weight (kg)/ height [(m).sup.2) is the most widely used weight-height index worldwide. This universal use of BMI assumes that the rationale for its use is universally applicable. We examine two possible rationales for using BMI as a universal measure. The first rationale is that BMI is strongly correlated with weight, but is independent of height. The second rationale is that BMI correctly captures the relationship between weight and height, which implies that the slope of log weight regressed on log height is 2. We examined the weight-height relationship in 25 diverse population samples of men and women from the US, Europe, and Asia. The analysis included 72 subgroups with a total of 385,232 adults aged 25 years and older. Although BMI was highly correlated with weight in all studies, a significant, negative correlation between BMI and height was found in 31 out of 40 subgroups of men (r = -0.004 to -0.133) and 32 of 32 groups of women (r = -0.016 to -0.205). When log weight was regressed on log height, the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the slopes did not include 2 in 25 out of 40 male subgroups. The summary estimate of the slopes across studies of men was 1.92 (95% CI, 1.87-1.97). For women, slopes were lower than 2 in 28 of 32 subgroups with a summary estimate of 1.45 (95% CI, 1.39-1.51). In most of the populations, BMI is not independent of height; weight does not universally vary with the square of height; and the relationship between weight and height differs significantly between males and females. The use of a single BMI standard for both men and women cannot be justified on the basis of weight-height relationships. Am J Phys Anthropol 128:220-229, 2005. KEY WORDS height; weight; body mass index; anthropometrics; obesity

I examine racial differences in child stunting in mid-1990s South Africa and Brazil, two multiracial societies with different histories of legal support for racial discrimination. Using data from nationally representative household samples linked to community-level measures, the analysis shows that racial inequality in the distribution of socioeconomic resources across households and communities explains much of the racial difference in stunting in both countries. Even after these factors are controlled, however, the results indicate that in South Africa, nonwhite children are still at greater risk of growth faltering than are white children. The nature of socioeconomic and racial differences in children's growth is examined, and major determinants are discussed. These findings suggest that although state-sanctioned racism may help to explain the greater racial inequality in stunting in South Africa than in Brazil, the eradication of a disadvantage for nonwhites will depend on changes in the same fundamental socioeconomic inequalities that characterize both nations.

The effect of rural vs urban origin of the parents on the height of 19-year-old male offspring residing in urban centers of Poland has been studied. When grouped by parents' educational level and by family size, men whose parents were of rural origin tended to be taller than men whose parents were of urban origin, within homogeneous groups.

Normal puberty is characterized by a growth spurt, after which growth slows then stops at the final adult height. Boys typically begin growing rapidly at about 11 years of age, growing at a peak rate of about 9.5 centimeters per year. Girls begin rapidly growing at about 9 years of age, reaching a peak growth velocity of about 8.3 centimeters per year. Pubertal growth accounts for 17-18% of the final adult height in males and females., We reviewed the growth characteristics of American boys and girls from published studies, including age at takeoff, age at peak height velocity, peak height velocity, duration of puberty, and the magnitude of the pubertal contribution to adult height. Age at takeoff is highly variable and sex-dependent. The mean takeoff age in children growing at an average rate is ~11 years in boys and 9 years in girls, and peak height velocity occurs at a mean age of 13.5 years and 11.5 years, respectively, in these children. Whole-year peak height velocity is 9.5 cm/y in boys and 8.3 cm/y in girls, with slight variations in the different studies. The contribution of pubertal growth to final height is ~30 to 31 cm in boys, accounting for 17% to 18% of the final height, and 27.5 to 29 cm in girls, accounting for 17% of the final height. The magnitude of pubertal growth has a negative correlation with age at takeoff, but no correlation with final height. Age at takeoff, however, correlates highly with pubertal stage, but correlates negatively with duration of puberty. Pediatrics 1998;102:507-511; puberty, growth, growth velocity, peak height velocity., ABBREVIATIONS. HES, Health Examination Survey; SD, standard deviation. Puberty is a significant physiologic event in human growth and biologic maturation. It begins with the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and [...]

The biological differences between short statured children with high and low socio-economic status (SES) are studied. Results show that short statured children with low SES have lower body weights, shorter limbs, longer trunks, narrower shoulders, smaller arm circumferences and poorer muscular reaction times compared to short children with high SES. Genetically short children also have different anthropometric and functional traits from children who are short because of their environment.

English female convicts transported to New South Wales and born after 1800 were shorter than those born 15-20 years earlier, with the fall in height greater for rural-born women. The fall in height of English rural-born women convicts may be attributed to the reduced net nutrition during industrialization. Decline in the relative position of women in the family and labor market resulted in fewer household resources allocated to women.

Data on the heights of servants born in England and Ireland and serving in colonial US were analyzed. The results showed that the physical stature of English servants declined during the 1730s, a time synchronous with the acceleration of English population expansion. In contrast, the height of Irish servants did not decline during the same period, indicating that they did not undergo similar nutritional stress during the period.

Contemporary populations of Homo sapiens are sexually dimorphic on a variety of traits. In terms of stature, men are reliably between 4% and 10% taller than women in well-sampled human populations. Are cross-cultural differences in the magnitude of sexual dimorphism consistent with expectations from sexual selection theory? Prior studies have provided conflicting answers to this question in part because they failed to agree on how the force of sexual selection should or could be operationalized. Here we offer a simple and unbiased method for operationalizing sexual selection and retest two separate predictions from earlier work (Alexander et al., 1979) about its expected impact on stature dimorphism in a sample of 155 societies. Neither prediction matches the observed cross-cultural distribution of dimorphism. However, this is not the consequence of a random distribution of dimorphism across societies. Instead, the data exhibit a robust and unexpected pattern.

If the early 19th century United States was a developing country, then it may be expected that the lowest economic stratum would show some biological consequences of poverty. This report examines that question by estimating stature on 90 male and 64 female adult skeletons from an unmarked cemetery dating between 1826 and 1863. The Highland Park burial ground was adjacent to institutions which interned unfortunates of Rochester, Monroe County, in western New York. The best estimate of male stature (N = 84) is 172.6 cm. A review of other 18th and 19th century height data shows this value not to be relatively stunted, but rather exactly on the predicted mean of its time. If this was a poor population, stunting was not a consequence of poverty. Females (N = 59) showed a best height estimate of 160.0 cm. Less comparative data are available, but this too seems average for the time. A brief discussion of secular trends, changing income inequity and fluctuating stature from the 18th through 20th centuries puts this finding in context.

The short stature and obesity among adult Hispanics are a major concern among health officials. Possible factors which led to the prevalent characteristics of Hispanics are considered. Hispanics are usually taller than average during their adolescence, but the situation is reversed as they reach adulthood. The body weight also increases as Hispanics get older. Although there are no concrete genetic factors, diet definitely influences weight gain. Another factor may be the partiality of Hispanics towards fleshy women. More vital than the causes is the health problems that may ensue due to obesity.

Recent papers by Trinkaus, Ruff, and colleagues have used a new method to estimate hominin body mass. The estimates are derived from a multiple regression of group means for body mass on stature and bi-iliac breadth in 31 male & 25 female recent human samples. The procedure produces body mass estimates very similar to those derived from femoral head diameter. With fossils, the procedure often requires the estimation of stature and bi-iliac breadth. The breadth of only one Skhul pelvis and one (perhaps two) Neandertal pelvis can be measured. Trinkaus and Ruff therefore estimated the bi-iliac breaths for the rest of the individuals in these groups by multiplying estimated stature by the ratio of bi-iliac breadth to stature of the measurable specimen. This should be reliable if within-group variability in the ratio is low; otherwise it may produce a substantial systematic error. We evaluated the procedure by measuring the bi-iliac breadth and femoral length of 35 male African Americans and 33 Inuit skeletons. The range of ratios of known biiliac breadth to estimated stature in each sample exceeded the range of Ruffs population means, and the standard deviation (SD) of the ratio within each sample was equal to or exceeded that of Ruff s population means. For single-specimen-based estimates of a mean, a ratio [+ or -] 1 SD from the group's observed mean creates a systematic bias of 6.4% - 8.0% in mass from that predicted by the measured femoral lengths and bi-iliac breadths. More importantly, individual values for the ratio in African American and Inuit data each encompass most of Ruffs population means. A sample of one will frequently produce erroneous impressions of a group's average body proportions. Paleobiological inferences should take ranges of variation and confidence limits into account whenever possible.

Objectives. This study examined the change in heritability of adult body height across birth cohorts in Finland. Methods. In 1981, cross-sectional questionnaires were completed by 10968 twin pairs born before 1958. The effect of genetic factors was estimated via genetic modeling. Results. Heritability increased from the cohort born before 1929 (0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.65, 0.88 in men; 0.66, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.77 in women) to that born in 1947 through 1957 (0.81, 95% CI = 0.73, 0.87 in men; 0.82, 95% CI = 0.75, 0.89 in women). Conclusions. Heritability of height increased across Finnish birth cohorts born in the first half of this century and leveled off after World War II. Environmental factors, compared with genetic factors, appear to be more important among women than men. (Am J Public Health. 2000;90:627-630)

Evolutionary models of sexual dimorphism link increased male size to male-male competition, while female size is tied to the nutritional requirements of reproduction. Molecular correlates of this model have not been explored. The androgen receptor gene, located on the X chromosome, mediates male reproductive development. Mutations of this gene interfere with virilization suggesting that this gene may be linked to the evolution of primate sexual dimorphism. A genetic mechanism for the evolution of dimorphism must account for the continuous inter-specific variation of dimorphism. Expansion of the tri-nucleotide CAG repeat in the androgen receptor gene is a possible mechanism for modulating dimorphism among primate species. The androgen receptor gene was sequenced from a convenience sample of Catarrhine primates including chimpanzee (n=6) gorilla (n=3), orangutan (n=l), gibbon (n=l), baboon (n=4), and macaque (n=3). The index of dimorphism was calculated as mean female weight divided by mean male weight for the species. Results show a negative correlation between repeat expansion and this index of dimorphism. This finding is consistent with a role for the expansion of this simple sequence repeat in the evolution of primate sexual dimorphism. Directional evolution toward an expanded CAG repeat has been proposed elsewhere. However, the causal link between the expanded tri-nucleotide repeat and several neuro-degenerative diseases indicates that excessive expansion has deleterious effects. One of the attractive features of this hypothesis is that it provides a genetic mechanism underlying variation in sexual dimorphism among species.