Secular changes and predictors of adult height for 86 105 male and female members of the Thai Cohort Study born between 1940 and 1990

Abstract

BackgroundHeight trends can be useful indicators of population health but, despite Thailand's rapid socioeconomic development since the 1950s, few studies have examined accompanying secular changes in adult height or the effects of the transition on the heights of rural versus urban populations. This study therefore sought to document average heights in different age groups of rural and urban Thais and to investigate factors associated with attained height.MethodsData from 86 105 Thai Cohort Study participants was used to estimate mean heights for men and women in different birth year groups. Simple regression was used to calculate the change in height per decade of birth year among those based in rural or urban locations as children. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate effects of other childhood factors on height.ResultsOverall, average heights were found to have increased by approximately 1 cm per decade in those born between 1940 and 1990. However, the rate of increase was 0.4–0.5 cm per decade greater among urban-based Thais compared with those from the countryside. Parental education levels, household assets, birth size, sibling number, birth rank and region of residence were also significantly associated with adult height.ConclusionsThese data suggest a marked secular increase in Thai heights in the second half of the 20th century probably reflecting improved childhood health and nutrition over this time. Rural-born Thais, who benefited to a lesser extent from the changes, may face future health challenges with greater risks of, among other things, obesity and its health consequences.

Secular trends in body height and body mass in 19‐year‐old polish men based on six national surveys from 1965 to 2010

“…Similar secular trends in body height, weight, and BMI have been observed all over the world (Castilho and Lahr, 2001;Hosseini et al, 2010;Jordan et al, 2012;Monterio et al, 1994;Shin et al, 2012;Simsek et al, 2005). There were also positive trends in growth indices in the USA (Komlos and Lauderdale, 2007;Malina, 2004), Australia (Loesch et al, 2000), and Japan (Kagawa et al, 2011).…”

History, research and practice of forensic anthropology in Thailand

“…Since the skeletal age of maturation is related to sexual maturation, the results of this study might also indicate the acceleration of skeletal age maturation in the modern Thai population [43]. The secular trend towards increasing height in the Thai population was also observed by the studies of Jordan et al [44] and Seubsman and Sleigh [45]. Jordan and colleagues [44] found that the average height, from 86,105 samples, had risen by 1 centimetre.…”

Can resource dilution explain differences in height by birth order and family size? A study of 389,287 male recruits in twentieth-century Netherlands

“…Such differences in part relate to gradients in education and parental occupation between families (Gyenis & Joubert, 2004; Heineck, 2006; Huang, van Poppel, & Lumey, 2015; Jordan, Lim, Seubsman, Bain, & Sleigh, 2012; Komlos & Kriwy, 2002; Krzyżanowska & Umławska, 2010; Meyer, & Selmer, 1999; Peck & Lundberg, 1995; Silventoinen, Lahelma, Lundberg, & Rahkonen, 2001). This relation is reflected in height differences seen in many countries, including the Netherlands (Fredriks et al, 2000; Gyenis & Joubert, 2004; Heineck, 2006; Hiermeyer, 2009; Jordan et al, 2012; Komlos & Kriwy, 2002; Krzyżanowska & Umławska, 2010; Schönbeck et al, 2013). Even within a household, however, when socio-economic status (SES) is fixed, an individual's height appears to be a powerful indicator of the availability of human resources.…”