Akachi Yoko, Canning David
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Ann Hum Biol. 2007 Jul-Aug;34(4):397-410. doi: 10.1080/03014460701452868.
Adult height in individuals has been linked to health and nutrition in childhood, and to health outcomes in later life. Economists have used average adult height as an indicator of the biological standard of living and as a measure of health human capital. However, it is unclear to what extent childhood health and nutrition are reflected in adult height at the population level.
The study examined the proximate determinants of population adult height for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A database was created of adult female height for 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for birth cohorts born between 1945 and 1985. The present study examined the effect of infant mortality rate, GDP per capita, and average protein and calorie consumption on cohort adult height.
Most of the variation in height across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is due to fixed effects; however, it was found that variations in cohort height over time are sensitive to changes in infant mortality rate, GDP per capita, and protein intake, both at birth and in adolescence.
Changes in cohort adult height over time in Sub-Saharan Africa are related to changes childhood health and nutrition, although variation across countries appears to be determined mainly by unexplained fixed factors.
个体的成年身高与儿童时期的健康和营养状况相关，也与成年后的健康结果有关。经济学家将平均成年身高作为生活生物标准的指标以及健康人力资本的衡量标准。然而，在人群层面，儿童时期的健康和营养状况在成年身高上的体现程度尚不清楚。
本研究考察了撒哈拉以南非洲国家人群成年身高的直接决定因素。
创建了一个数据库，包含撒哈拉以南非洲24个国家1945年至1985年出生队列中成年女性的身高数据。本研究考察了婴儿死亡率、人均国内生产总值以及出生时和青春期的平均蛋白质和热量摄入量对队列成年身高的影响。
撒哈拉以南非洲国家间身高的大部分差异归因于固定效应；然而，研究发现，队列身高随时间的变化对婴儿死亡率、人均国内生产总值以及出生时和青春期蛋白质摄入量的变化较为敏感。
撒哈拉以南非洲队列成年身高随时间的变化与儿童时期健康和营养状况的变化相关，尽管国家间的差异似乎主要由无法解释的固定因素决定。
