Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • FAQ
    • Log in

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Height, wealth, and health: An overview with new data from three longitudinal studies

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Batty, G.
    Shipley, M.
    Gunnell, D.
    Huxley, Rachel
    Kivimaki, M.
    Woodward, M.
    Lee, Crystal
    Smith, G.
    Date
    2009
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Type
    Journal Article
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract

    This overview, based on a literature review and new data from the three cohorts (Whitehall Studies I and II, and the Vietnam Experience Study), has four objectives: (a) to outline the major determinants of height, so providing an indication as to what exposures this characteristic may capture; (b) to summarise, by reviewing reports from large scale studies, the relation between adult height and a range of disease outcomes - both somatic and psychiatric - with particular emphasis on coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke; (c) to discuss why these relationships may exist, in particular, the role, if any, of socioeconomic position in explaining the apparent associations; and, finally (d) to outline future research directions in this field. The large majority of evidence for predictors of height, and its health consequences, comes from observational studies. While genetic predisposition is a major determinant of height, secular rises in childhood and adult stature across successive birth cohorts suggest that early life environment also has an important impact. Plausible non-genetic determinants of height include nutrition, illness, socioeconomic status, and psychosocial stress. Evidence for an association between height and a series of health endpoints is accumulating. Thus, shorter people appear to experience increased risk of CHD, and these associations appear to be independent of socioeconomic position and other potentially confounding variables. For stroke, and its sub-types, findings are less clear. In contrast to CHD, some cancers, such as carcinoma of the colorectum, prostate, breast (in women), central nervous system, skin, endometrium, thyroid and blood (haematopoietic) are more common in taller people. While height may be negatively related to the risk of completed suicide, conclusions about the links between stature and other health endpoints is problematic given the paucity of evidence, which should be addressed. Ultimately, for want of better data, investigators in this area have used height as a proxy for a range of pre-adult exposures. In future, research should aim to explore the predictive capacity of direct measures of diet, psychosocial stress, childhood chronic illness and so on, rather than focus on height or its components. The problem is that extended follow-up of child cohorts with such data are required, and studies which hold these data are not currently available, although several are either maturing to the point where they offer sufficient clinical outcomes to facilitate analyses or are in the advanced planning stage. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

    Citation
    Batty, G. and Shipley, M. and Gunnell, D. and Huxley, R. and Kivimaki, M. and Woodward, M. and Lee, C. et al. 2009. Height, wealth, and health: An overview with new data from three longitudinal studies. Economics and Human Biology. 7 (2): pp. 137-152.
    Source Title
    Economics and Human Biology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17461
    DOI
    10.1016/j.ehb.2009.06.004
    Department
    School of Public Health

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Breastfeeding and health outcomes in infants who receive continuing care from hospitals or community health centres in Chengdu Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China
      Yu, Chuan (2013)
      Introduction. The child health is one of the most important indicators of population health and the development of society. The health of children in China has improved in the past decades. The child health care system ...
    • Brief oral health promotion intervention among parents of young children to reduce early childhood dental decay
      Arrow, P.; Raheb, Joseph; Miller, M. (2013)
      Background: Severe untreated dental decay affects a child’s growth, body weight, quality of life as well as cognitive development, and the effects extend beyond the child to the family, the community and the health care ...
    • Now, the Taller Die Earlier: The Curse of Cancer
      Sohn, Kitae (2016)
      © 2015 The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.This study estimates the relationship between height and mortality. Individuals in the ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDocument TypesThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDocument Types

    My Account

    Log in

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Connect with Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Send FeedbackContact Us
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace