Height

Description
Adult height is determined not only by genetic endowment but also by health, nutrition/diet and psychological stress through the developmental years. Social and developmental factors related to adult height include parental height, birth weight, childhood social class, birth order, number of younger siblings, year of birth, parental education, household crowding, childhood diet, and serious illness in childhood.

Stunting is of particular concern in examining the relationship of height to health outcomes. Stunting refers to extremely short stature, defined by comparison to the age- and sex-specific length or height reference population developed by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998) and adopted by the World Health Organization for international use. Stunting, a condition developing in early childhood, directly results from poor diets and regular and/or severe infection, generally occurring before 18 months. Thus, stunting serves as an indicator of early childhood experience including inadequate nutrition, chronic or recurrent infections, low birth weight and sometimes extreme psychosocial stress without nutritional deficiencies (Lewit and Kerrebrock, 1997). Stunting is also associated with other biological risk dimensions in later life.

Significance of Measurement
Height has been related to the risk of chronic conditions, diseases and death among older persons. There is an inverse association between height and overall mortality (Davey Smith et al., 2000; Song et al., 2003), with stroke (McCarron et al., 2001; Song et al., 2003), and with cardiovascular disease (Davey Smith et al., 2000; Gunnell et al., 2003). On the other hand the association between height and cancer is positive (Davey Smith et al., 2000; Gunnell et al., 2001). Because height rarely changes during adulthood, the association of greater stature with an increased risk of cancer and a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease appears to reflect the long-term consequences of pre-adult conditions.

Method of Measurement
Standing height is measured by standing with the feet together, without shoes. One looks straight ahead. The tape is extended, placing it on top of the head, without pressing. (Interviewer manual for MHAS)

References
· Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1998). Pediatric nutrition surveillance, 1997 full report. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
· Davey Smith, G., Hart, C., Upton, M., Hole, D., Gillis, C., Watt, G., et al (2000). Height and risk of death among men and women: Aetiological implications of associations with cardiorespiratory disease and cancer mortality. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 97-103.
· Gunnell, D., Okasha, M., Davey Smith, G., Oliver, S., Sandhu, J., & Holly, J. (2001). Height, leg length and cancer risk: A systematic review. Epidemiological Review, 23, 313-342.
· Gunnell, D., Whitley, E., Upton, M.N., McConnachie, A., Davey Smith, G., & Watt, G.C.M. (2003). Associations of height, leg length and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57, 141-146.
· Lewit, E., & Kerrebrock, N. (1997). Population-based growth stunting. The Future of children: Children and poverty, 7(2), 149-156.
· McCarron, P., Hart, C.L., Hole, D., & Davey Smith, G. (2001). The relation between adult height and haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke in the Renfrew/Paisley study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 55, 404-405.
· Song, Y.M., Davey Smith, G., & Sung, J. (2003). Adult height and cause-specific mortality: A large prospective study of Korean men. American Journal of Epidemiology, 158, 479-485.