Myburgh J, Staub K, Rühli F J, Smith J R, Steyn M
Forensic Anthropology Research Centre, Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Homo. 2017 Dec;68(6):433-439. doi: 10.1016/j.jchb.2017.10.001. Epub 2017 Oct 7.
During the 20th century a general positive secular trend for stature is observed in developed countries around the world while shorter statures, often associated with a lack of a positive secular trend, have mostly been observed in populations with lower SES. The purpose of this study was to compare secular changes in stature between 20th century South Africans of European descent and two European populations. The comparative samples include Dutch males with which there is an assumed genetic relationship, and Swiss males for which the genetic association is less clear. The sample comprised anthropometric stature data of white South Africans (17-62 years), Swiss and Dutch males (18-21 years) obtained from military conscripts with birth cohorts of 5 years from 1946 to 1995. The stature of white South African males did not increase at a significant rate compared to those observed in Swiss and Dutch males. South African and Dutch males were of similar height following World War II, but a considerable trend was observed only in the Dutch group. The Swiss group was initially shorter than the South Africans, but due to a positive secular trend their average stature is on a par with that of South Africans in the most recent cohort. The lack of a significant positive secular trend in the South African group could suggest that factors such as gene flow and poor economic and social development in South Africa resulted in shorter statures in white South African groups than expected.
在20世纪，全球发达国家普遍观察到身高呈现正向的长期趋势，而身高较矮的情况，通常与缺乏正向长期趋势相关，大多出现在社会经济地位较低的人群中。本研究的目的是比较20世纪欧洲裔南非人与两个欧洲人群在身高方面的长期变化。比较样本包括假定存在遗传关系的荷兰男性，以及遗传关联不太明确的瑞士男性。样本包括从1946年至1995年出生队列间隔5年的应征入伍者中获取的南非白人（17 - 62岁）、瑞士和荷兰男性（18 - 21岁）的人体测量身高数据。与瑞士和荷兰男性相比，南非白人男性的身高没有显著增长。二战后，南非和荷兰男性身高相似，但显著的增长趋势仅在荷兰人群中观察到。瑞士人群最初比南非人矮，但由于存在正向长期趋势，在最近的队列中他们的平均身高与南非人相当。南非人群缺乏显著的正向长期趋势可能表明，诸如基因流动以及南非经济和社会发展不佳等因素导致南非白人人群身高低于预期。
