Magnusson Patrik K E, Rasmussen Finn, Gyllensten Ulf B
Department of Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Int J Epidemiol. 2006 Jun;35(3):658-63. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyl011. Epub 2006 Jan 30.
Adult body height has been related to socioeconomic position in cross-sectional studies. Intelligence, shared family factors, and non-familial circumstances may contribute to associations between height and attained education, but their relative importance has been difficult to resolve.
A nation-wide record-linkage cohort study of over 950 000 Swedish men born 1950-75 followed with respect to attained education for up to 27 years after measurement of height at age 18 (baseline). The association between height and attained education in later life was investigated by logistic regression modelling with adjustment for age, geography, parental socioeconomic position, and cognitive ability. Shared family factors were accounted for in analyses of full-brother-pairs using conditional logistic regression.
The odds ratio (OR) for attaining higher education 7-27 years after baseline was 1.10 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.09-1.10] in fully adjusted models per 5 cm increase in height. Men taller than 194 cm were two to three times more likely to obtain a higher education as compared with men shorter than 165 cm. The association remained within brother-pairs, OR 1.08 (95% CI 1.07-1.10), suggesting that non-familial factors contribute to the association between height and education attainment. A significant interaction (P < 0.0001) was found between year of birth, height, and attained education, showing slightly weaker associations among later birth cohorts.
The strong positive association between height and educational achievement remaining after adjustment for year of birth, parental socioeconomic position, other shared family factors, and cognitive ability may reflect educational discrimination based on height although residual confounding cannot be ruled out.
在横断面研究中，成人身高与社会经济地位相关。智力、共同的家庭因素和非家庭环境可能导致身高与受教育程度之间产生关联，但其相对重要性难以确定。
一项针对95万多名1950年至1975年出生的瑞典男性的全国性记录链接队列研究，在18岁（基线）测量身高后，对其受教育程度进行长达27年的跟踪。通过逻辑回归模型研究身高与晚年受教育程度之间的关联，并对年龄、地理位置、父母社会经济地位和认知能力进行调整。在对全兄弟对的分析中，使用条件逻辑回归来考虑共同的家庭因素。
在完全调整的模型中，基线后7至27年获得高等教育的优势比（OR）为1.10 [95%置信区间（95%CI）1.09 - 1.10]，身高每增加5厘米。身高超过194厘米的男性获得高等教育的可能性是身高低于165厘米男性的两到三倍。这种关联在兄弟对中仍然存在，OR为1.08（95%CI 1.07 - 1.10），表明非家庭因素导致了身高与教育程度之间的关联。发现出生年份、身高和受教育程度之间存在显著交互作用（P < 0.0001），表明在较晚出生队列中关联略弱。
在对出生年份、父母社会经济地位、其他共同家庭因素和认知能力进行调整后，身高与教育成就之间仍然存在强烈的正相关，这可能反映了基于身高的教育歧视，尽管不能排除残余混杂因素。
