People Are Taller in Countries With Better Environmental Conditions
Alina German, Gustavo S. Mesch, Ze’ev Hochberg
Abstract
Background: Height is considered an indicator of health and well-being of an individual and population. Height variation results from a complex interaction of genetic, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural influences. In order to understand the contribution of environmental stress associated with the child’s growth, we correlated indicators of a stressful environment with adult height. Methods: We utilized seven equally weighted indicators of a stressful environment: homicide rates, GDP per capita, income inequality(GINI index), corruption perception index(CPI), unemployment rate, urban air pollution, and life expectancy (LE). Data on male and female height by country from 1992-1996 were obtained from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration dataset. We assessed separately data from the 31 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In order to establish whether the indicators reflected a single conceptual dimension, we conducted an exploratory analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) with orthogonal transformation of the original variables. The relationships between male and female heights and the z-transformed principal components: Quality of life (QoL) and the Social factor (SF) that were derived after the PCA was assessed. Results: Male and female heights strongly correlated (p air pollution > GDP > CPI > homicide rate > LE > unemployment.