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Socioeconomic factors and intergenerational differences in height of Portuguese adults born in 1990: results from the EPITeen cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2022

Berta Valente Open the ORCID record for Berta Valente [Opens in a new window] ,
Elisabete Ramos Open the ORCID record for Elisabete Ramos [Opens in a new window]  and
Joana Araújo Open the ORCID record for Joana Araújo [Opens in a new window]
Berta Valente
Affiliation:
EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Elisabete Ramos
Affiliation:
EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Joana Araújo*
Affiliation:
EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Porto, Portugal Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author: Email: joana.araujo@ispup.up.pt
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Abstract

Average adult height is an indicator of population health and a marker of socioeconomic inequalities. This study aimed to assess how socioeconomic differences affect intergenerational height increase between adults born in 1990 and their parents. Data from a population-based cohort of subjects born in 1990 (EPITeen) were analysed. Participants’ adult height was objectively measured. Parental height, education, and occupation were reported by the parents. The height difference between daughters and their mothers (n=707), and sons and their fathers (n=647) was calculated. A generalised linear model was used to assess the association between parental education and occupation, separately, and the intergenerational height difference, adjusted for maternal age at birth, smoking during pregnancy, birthweight adjusted for gestational age, and birth order. Females were on average 1.46cm (SD=6.62) taller than their mothers, and males 3.00cm (SD=7.26) taller than their fathers. The highest height gain was shown in those with less advantaged socioeconomic background. In the adjusted model, sons whose mothers had 0-6 years of education grew 3.9cm taller (β=3.894; 95%CI:2.345;5.443) and daughters 1.5cm taller (β=1.529; 95%CI:0.180;2.878) (compared to >12y maternal education); for paternal education, sons and daughters grew 3.5cm (β=3.480; 95%CI:1.913;5.047) and 1.9cm taller (β=1.895; 95%CI:0.526;3.265), respectively. A higher height increase was found in participants with less advantaged maternal and paternal occupational level. Adults born in 1990 are taller than their parents, and height gain was higher in males than females. Adults from a lower socioeconomic status experienced the highest height gain, suggesting a reduction in height inequality.

Keywords

heightsocioeconomic factorspopulation health
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , July 2023 , pp. 655 - 668
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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