Abstract
Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3– 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8– 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e13410 |
| Journal | eLife |
| Volume | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:ME was awarded funding to carry out the research from the Wellcome Trust and Grand Challenges Canada. We thank Christina Banks, Quentin Hennocq, Dheeya Rizmie, and Yasaman Vali for assistance with data extraction. We thank WHO country and regional offices and World Heart Federation for support in data identification and access.
Funding Information:
Cancer, France)*; Nahla Hwalla (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)*; Licia Iacoviello (IRCCS Isti-tuto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed, Italy)*; Anna G Iannone (Cardiologia di Mercato S. Severino, Italy)*; Mohsen M Ibrahim (Cairo University, Egypt)*; Nayu Ikeda (National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Japan)*; M Arfan Ikram (Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands) *; Vilma E Irazola (Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy, Argentina)*; Muhammad Islam (Aga Khan University, Pakistan)*; Vanja Ivkovic (UHC Zagreb, Croatia)*; Masanori Iwasaki (Niigata University, Japan)*; Rod T Jackson (University of Auckland, New Zealand)*; Jeremy M Jacobs (Hadas-sah University Medical Center, Israel)*; Tazeen Jafar (Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore)*; Kazi M Jamil (Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait)*; Konrad Jamrozik (University of Adelaide, Australia; deceased)*; Imre Janszky (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)*; Grazyna Jasienska (Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland)*; Bojan Jelakovic (University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia)*; Chao Qiang Jiang (Guangzhou 12th Hospital, China)*; Michel Joffres (Simon Fraser University, Canada)*; Mattias Johansson (International Agency for Research on Cancer, France)*; Jost B Jonas (Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, Germany)*; Torben Jørgensen (Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark)*; Pradeep Joshi (World Health Organization Country Office, India)*; Anne Juolevi (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Gregor Jurak (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)*; Vesna Juresˇa (University of Zagreb, Croatia)*; Rudolf Kaaks (German Cancer Research Center, Germany)*; Anthony Kafatos (University of Crete, Greece)*; Ofra Kalter-Leibovici (The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Israel)*; Efthymios Kapantais (Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity, Greece)*; Amir Kasaeian (Tehran University of Medical Science, Iran)*; Joanne Katz (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA)*; Prabhdeep Kaur (National Institute of Epidemiology, India)*; Maryam Kavousi (Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands)*; Ulrich Keil (University of Münster, Germany)*; Lital Keinan Boker ( Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel)*; Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaan-niemi (Oulu University Hospital, Finland)*; Roya Kelishadi (Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non Communicable Disease, Iran)*; Han CG Kemper (VU University Medical Center, The Netherlands)*; Andre P Kengne (South African Medical Research Council, South Africa)*; Mathilde Kersting (Research Institute of Child Nutrition, Germany)*; Timothy Key (University of Oxford, UK)*; Yousef Saleh Khader (Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan)*; Davood Khalili (Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran)*; Young-Ho Khang (Seoul National University, South Korea)*; Kay-Tee H Khaw (University of Cambridge, UK)*; Ilse MSL Khouw (FrieslandCampina, Singapore)*; Stefan Kiechl (Medical University Innsbruck, Austria)*; Japhet Killewo (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania)*; Jeongseon Kim (National Cancer Center, South Korea), Jeannette Klimont (Statistics Austria, Austria)*; Jurate Klumbiene (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)*; Bhawesh Koirala (B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal)*; Elin Kolle (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway)*; Patrick Kolsteren (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium)*; Paul Korrovits (Tartu University Clinics, Estonia)*; Seppo Koskinen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Katsuyasu Kouda (Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Japan)*; Sla-womir Koziel (Polish Academy of Sciences Anthropology Unit in Wroclaw, Poland)*; Wolfgang Krat-zer (University Hospital Ulm, Germany)*; Steinar Krokstad (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)*; Daan Kromhout (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)*; Herculina S Kruger (North-West University, South Africa)*; Ruzena Kubinova (National Institute of Public Health, Czech Republic)*; Urho M Kujala (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)*; Krzysztof Kula (Medical University of Lodz, Poland)*; Zbigniew Kulaga (The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Poland)*; R Krishna Kumar (Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India)*; Pawel Kurjata (The Cardinal Wyszynski Institute of Cardiology, Poland)*; Yadlapalli S Kusuma (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India)*; Kari Kuulasmaa (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Catherine Kyobutungi (African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya)*; Fatima Zahra Laamiri (Higher Institute of Nursing Professions and Technical Health, Morocco)*; Tiina Laatikainen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Carl Lachat (Ghent University, Belgium)*; Youcef Laid (National Institute of Public Health of Algeria, Algeria)*; Tai Hing Lam (University of Hong Kong, China)*; Orlando Landrove (Ministerio de Salud Pública, Cuba)*; Vera Lanska (Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Czech Republic)*; Georg Lappas (Sahlgrenska Academy, Sweden)*; Bagher Larijani (Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Iran)*; Lars E Laugsand (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)*; Avula Laxmaiah (Indian Council of Medical Research, India)*; Khanh Le Nguyen Bao (National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam)*; Tuyen D Le (National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam)*;
Funding Information:
Memorial Institute of Public Health, Panama)*; Thet Thet Mu (Department of Public Health, Myanmar)*; Maria Lorenza Muiesan (University of Brescia, Italy)*; Martina Müller-Nurasyid (Helmholtz Zen-trum München, Germany)*; Neil Murphy (Imperial College London, UK)*; Jaakko Mursu (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)*; Elaine M Murtagh (Mary Immaculate College, Ireland)*; Kamarul Imran Musa (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Malaysia)*; Vera Musil (University of Zagreb, Croatia)*; Gabriele Nagel (Ulm University, Germany)*; Harunobu Nakamura (Kobe University, Japan)*; Jana Námesˇná (Regional Authority of Public Health, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia)*; Ei Ei K Nang (National University of Singapore, Singapore)*; Vinay B Nangia (Suraj Eye Institute, India)*; Martin Nankap (Helen Keller International, Cameroon)*; Sameer Narake (Healis - Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, India)*; Eva Maria Navarrete-Muñoz (CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Spain)*; William A Neal (West Virginia University, USA)*; Ilona Nenko (Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland)*; Martin Neovius (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)*; Flavio Nervi (Pontificia Universidad Catól-ica de Chile, Chile)*; Hannelore K Neuhauser (Robert Koch Institute, Germany)*; Nguyen D Nguyen (University of Pharmacy and Medicine of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)*; Quang Ngoc Nguyen (Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam)*; Ramfis E Nieto-Martínez (Universidad Centro-Occidental Lisandro Alvarado, Venezuela)*; Guang Ning (Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine, China)*; Toshiharu Ninomiya (Kyushu University, Japan)*; Sania Nishtar (Heartfile, Pakistan)*; Marianna Noale (National Research Council, Italy)*; Teresa Norat (Imperial College London, UK)*; Davide Noto (University of Palermo, Italy)*; Mohannad Al Nsour (Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network, Jordan)*; Dermot O’Reilly (The Queen’s University of Belfast, UK)*; Kyungwon Oh (Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, South Korea)*; Iman H Olayan (Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait)*; Maria Teresa Anselmo Olinto (University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil)*; Maciej Oltarzewski (National Food and Nutrition Institute, Poland), Mohd A Omar (Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysia)*; Altan Onat (Istanbul University, Turkey)*; Pedro Ordunez (Pan American Health Organization, USA)*; Ana P Ortiz (University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico)*; Merete Osler (Research Center for Prevention and Health, Denmark)*; Clive Osmond (MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, UK)*; Sergej M Ostojic (University of Novi Sad, Serbia)*; Johanna A Otero (Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Colombia)*; Kim Overvad (Aarhus University, Denmark)*; Ellis Owusu-Dabo (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana)*; Fred Michel Paccaud (Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, Switzerland)*; Cristina Padez (University of Coimbra, Portugal)*; Elena Pahomova (University of Latvia, Latvia)*; Andrzej Pajak (Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland)*; Domenico Palli (Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, Italy)*; Alberto Palloni (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)*; Luigi Palmieri (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy)*; Songhomitra Panda-Jonas (Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, Germany)*; Francesco Panza (University of Bari, Italy)*; Winsome R Parnell (University of Otago, New Zealand)*; Mahboubeh Parsaeian (Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran)*; Ivan Pecin (University of Zagreb, Croatia)*; Mangesh S Pedne-kar (Healis - Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, India)*; Petra H Peeters (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands)*; Sergio Viana Peixoto (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Rene Rachou Research Institute, Brazil)*; Markku Peltonen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Alexandre C Pereira (Heart Institute, Brazil)*; Cynthia M Pérez (University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico)*; Annette Peters (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany)*; Janina Petkeviciene (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)*; Niloofar Peykari (Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Iran)*; Son Thai Pham (Vietnam National Heart Institute, Vietnam)*; Iris Pigeot (Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Germany)*; Hynek Pikhart (University College London, UK)*; Aida Pilav (Federal Ministry of Health, Bosnia and Herzegovina)*; Lorenza Pilotto (Cardiovascular Prevention Centre, Italy)*; Francesco Pistelli (University Hospital of Pisa, Italy)*; Freda Pitakaka (University of New South Wales, Australia)*; Aleksandra Piwonska (The Cardinal Wyszynski Institute of Cardiology, Poland)*; Pedro Plans-Rubió (Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Spain)*; Bee Koon Poh (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia)*; Miquel Porta (Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions Mèdiques, Spain)*; Marileen LP Portegies (Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands)*; Dimitrios Poulimeneas (Alexander Technological Educational Institute, Greece)*; Rajendra Pradeepa (Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, India)*; Mathur Prashant (Indian Council of Medical Research, India)*; Jacqueline F Price (University of Edinburgh, UK)*; Maria Puiu (Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Romania)*; Margus Punab (Tartu University Clinics, Estonia), Radwan F Qasrawi (Al-Quds University, Palestine)*; Mostafa Qorbani (Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Iran)*; Tran Quoc Bao (Ministry of Health, Vietnam)*; Ivana Radic (University of
Funding Information:
Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)*; Eugène Sobngwi (University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon)*; Stefan Söderberg (Umeå University, Sweden)*; Moesijanti YE Soekatri (Health Polytechnics Institute, Indonesia)*; Vincenzo Solfrizzi (University of Bari, Italy)*; Emily Sonestedt (Lund University, Sweden)*; Yi Song (Peking University, China)*; Thorkild IA Sørensen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)*; Maroje Soric (University of Zagreb, Croatia)*; Charles Sossa Jérome (Institut Régional de Santé Publi-que, West Africa)*; Aicha Soumare (University of Bordeaux, France)*; Jan A Staessen (University of Leuven, Belgium)*; Gregor Starc (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)*; Maria G Stathopoulou (INSERM, France)*; Kaspar Staub (University of Zurich, Switzerland)*; Bill Stavreski (Heart Foundation, Australia)*; Jostein Steene-Johannessen (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway)*; Peter Stehle (Bonn University, Germany)*; Aryeh D Stein (Emory University, USA)*; George S Stergiou (Sotiria Hospital, Greece)*; Jochanan Stessman (Hadassah University Medical Center, Israel)*; Jutta Stieber (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany)*; Doris Stöckl (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany)*; Tanja Stocks (Lund University, Sweden)*; Jakub Stokwiszewski (National Institute of Public Health-National Institute of Hygiene, Poland)*; Gareth Stratton (Swansea University, UK)*; Karien Stronks (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)*; Maria Wany Strufaldi (Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil)*; Chien-An Sun (Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan)*; Johan Sundström (Uppsala University, Sweden)*; Yn-Tz Sung (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)*; Jordi Sunyer (ISGlobal Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Spain)*; Paibul Suriyawongpaisal (Mahidol University, Thailand)*; Boyd A Swinburn (The University of Auckland, New Zealand)*; Rody G Sy (University of the Philippines, Philippines)*; Lucjan Szponar (National Food and Nutrition Institute, Poland)*; E Shyong Tai (National University of Singapore, Singapore)*; Mari-Liis Tammesoo (University of Tartu, Estonia)*; Abdonas Tamosiunas (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)*; Line Tang (Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark)*; Xun Tang (Peking University Health Science Center, China)*; Frank Tanser (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)*; Yong Tao (Peking University, China)*; Mohammed Rasoul Tarawneh (Ministry of Health, Jordan)*; Jakob Tarp (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)*; Carolina B Tarqui-Mamani (National Institute of Health, Peru)*; Anne Taylor (The University of Adelaide, Australia)*; Félicité Tchibindat (UNICEF, Cameroon)*; Holger The-obald (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)*; Lutgarde Thijs (University of Leuven, Belgium)*; Betina H Thuesen (Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark)*; Anne Tjonneland (Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Denmark)*; Hanna K Tolonen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)*; Janne S Tolstrup (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)*; Murat Topbas (Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey)*; Roman Topór-Madry (Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland) *; Maties Torrent (IB-SALUT Area de Salut de Menorca, Spain)*; Stefania Toselli (University of Bologna, Italy)*; Pierre Traissac (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France)*; Antonia Tricho-poulou (Hellenic Health Foundation, Greece)*; Dimitrios Trichopoulos (Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA; deceased)*; Oanh TH Trinh (University of Pharmacy and Medicine of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)*; Atul Trivedi (Government Medical College, India)*; Lechaba Tshepo (Sefako Makgatho Health Science University, South Africa)*; Marshall K Tulloch-Reid (The University of the West Indies, Jamaica)*; Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)*; Jaakko Tuo-milehto (Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait)*; Maria L Turley (Ministry of Health, New Zealand)*; Per Tynelius (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)*; Themistoklis Tzotzas (Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity, Greece)*; Christophe Tzourio (University of Bordeaux, France)*; Peter Ueda (Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA)*; Flora AM Ukoli (Meharry Medical College, USA)*; Hanno Ulmer (Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria)*; Belgin Unal (Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey)*; Hannu MT Uusitalo (University of Tampere Tays Eye Center, Finland)*; Gonzalo Valdivia (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile)*; Susana Vale (University of Porto, Portugal)*; Damaskini Valvi (Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA)*; Yvonne T van der Schouw (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands)*; Koen Van Herck (Ghent University, Belgium)*; Hoang Van Minh (Hanoi School of Public Health, Vietnam)*; Lenie van Rossem (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands)*; Irene GM van Valkengoed (Academic Medical Center of University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) *; Dirk Vanderschueren (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)*; Diego Vanuzzo (Centro di Preven-zione Cardiovascolare Udine, Italy)*; Lars Vatten (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)*; Tomas Vega (Consejería de Sanidad Junta de Castilla y León, Spain)*; Gustavo Velasquez-Melendez (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)*; Giovanni Veronesi (University of Insubria, Italy)*; WM Monique Verschuren (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands)*; Roosmarijn Verstraeten (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium)*; Cesar G Victora (Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil)*; Giovanni Viegi (Italian National Research Council, Italy)*; Lucie Viet (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands)*; Eira Viikari-Juntura (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland)*; Paolo Vineis (Imperial College London, UK)*; Jesus Vioque (Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Spain)*; Jyrki K Virtanen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)*; Sophie Visvikis-Siest (INSERM, France)*; Bharathi Viswanathan (Ministry of Health, Seychelles)*; Peter Vollenweider (Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland)*; Sari Voutilainen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)*; Ana Vrdoljak (UHC Zagreb, Croatia)*; Martine Vrijheid (ISGlobal Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Spain)*; Alisha N Wade (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)*; Aline Wagner (University of Strasbourg, France)*; Janette Walton (University College Cork, Ireland)*; Wan Nazaimoon Wan Mohamud (Institute for Medical Research, Malaysia)*; Ming-Dong Wang (Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada)*; Qian Wang (Xinjiang Medical University, China)*; Ya Xing Wang (Beijing Tongren Hospital, China)*; S Goya Wannamethee (University College London, UK)*; Nicholas Wareham (University of Cambridge, UK)*; Deepa Weera-sekera (Ministry of Health, New Zealand)*; Peter H Whincup (St George’s, University of London, UK) *; Kurt Widhalm (Medical University of Vienna, Austria)*; Indah S Widyahening (Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia)*; Andrzej Wiecek (Medical University of Silesia, Poland)*; Alet H Wijga (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands)*; Rainford J Wilks (The University of the West Indies, Jamaica)*; Johann Willeit (Medical University Innsbruck, Austria)*; Tom Wilsgaard (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)*; Bogdan Wojtyniak (National Institute of Public Health-National Institute of Hygiene, Poland)*; Jyh Eiin Wong (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia)*; Tien Yin Wong (Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore)*; Jean Woo (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)*; Mark Woodward (University of Sydney, Australia; University of Oxford, UK)*; Frederick C Wu (University of Manchester, UK)*; Jianfeng Wu (Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China)*; Shou Ling Wu (Kailuan General Hospital, China)*; Haiquan Xu (Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of Ministry of Agriculture, China)*; Liang Xu (Capital Medical University, China)*; Uruwan Yamborisut (Mahidol University, Thailand)*; Weili Yan (Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, China)*; Xiaoguang Yang (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China)*; Nazan Yardim (Ministry of Health, Turkey)*; Xingwang Ye (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)*; Panayiotis K Yiallouros (University of Cyprus, Cyprus)*; Akihiro Yoshi-hara (Niigata University, Japan)*; Qi Sheng You (Capital Medical University, China)*; Novie O Younger-Coleman (The University of the West Indies, Jamaica)*; Ahmad F Yusoff (Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysia)*; Ahmad A Zainuddin (Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia)*; Sabina Zambon (University of Padova, Italy)*; Tomasz Zdrojewski (Medical University of Gdansk, Poland)*; Yi Zeng (Duke University, USA)*; Dong Zhao (Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, China)*; Wenhua Zhao (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China)*; Yingfeng Zheng (Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore)*; Maigeng Zhou (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China)*; Dan Zhu (Inner Mongolia Medical University, China)*; Esther Zimmermann (Bis-pebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospitals, Denmark)*; Julio Zuñiga Cisneros (Gorgas Memorial Institute of Public Health, Panama).
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