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Height, health, and development.

Angus Deaton1

  • 1Woodrow Wilson School and Economics Department, 328 Wallace Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. deaton@princeton.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|August 10, 2007
PubMed
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Adult height is influenced by nutrition and disease, but this relationship varies globally. In Africa, higher childhood mortality correlates with taller adults, unlike in wealthier nations.

Area of Science:

  • Human biology
  • Anthropometry
  • Global health

Background:

  • Adult height is a key indicator of living standards and health outcomes.
  • Historically, recorded heights have been used to assess past health and income levels.
  • Understanding height determinants is crucial for public health and socioeconomic research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the environmental determinants of adult height in 43 developing countries.
  • To examine the relationship between adult height, childhood mortality, and living conditions.
  • To analyze regional variations in height determinants, particularly in Africa.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-country analysis of adult height data from 43 developing nations.
  • Statistical examination of correlations between adult height and factors like childhood mortality, income, and maternal education.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparative analysis of height determinants in Africa versus other global regions.

    • Main Results:

    • Unlike in developed countries, adult height in developing nations is not consistently predicted by infant mortality or living conditions.
    • African women are taller than expected given their socioeconomic factors and high childhood mortality.
    • High childhood mortality in Africa is linked to taller adults, suggesting mortality selection overrides developmental impacts.

    Conclusions:

    • The environmental determinants of adult height differ significantly between developed and developing countries.
    • Socioeconomic factors and health conditions have complex and sometimes counterintuitive relationships with adult height in developing regions.
    • Findings challenge the universal applicability of height as a simple proxy for living standards in diverse global contexts.