Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism, University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Am J Hum Biol. 2022 Aug;34(8):e23754. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23754. Epub 2022 Apr 30.
Excess weight (Body Mass Index [BMI] ≥25.0 kg/m ) is a major health issue worldwide, including in Switzerland. For high-income countries, little attention has been paid to body height in context of excess weight. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of body height as a co-factor for excess weight in multiple large nationwide data sets.
In this comparative study, we included the largest nationwide and population-based studies in the fields of public health, nutrition and economics for Switzerland, as well as data of the medical examination during conscription for the Swiss Armed Forces, which contained information on BMI and, if possible, waist-to-height-ratio (WHtR) and waist-to-hip-ratio (WHR).
The multinomial logistic regressions show that the probability of belonging to the excess weight category (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m ) decreased with increasing height in both sexes inall contemporary data sets. This negative association was shown to be constant, only among conscripts measured in the 1870s the association was positive, when increasing height was associated with a higher BMI. The negative association not only emerge in BMI, but also in WHtR and WHR.
Our results emphasize the importance of body height as a co-factor of excess weight, suggesting a clear negative association between height and BMI, WHtR and WHR. Evidence indicates that both early-life environmental exposures and alleles associated with height may contribute to these associations. This knowledge could serve as further starting points for prevention programs in the field of public health.
超重（身体质量指数 [BMI] ≥25.0 kg/m ）是一个全球性的主要健康问题，包括在瑞士。对于高收入国家，很少关注超重情况下的身高。本研究的目的是评估身体高度作为超重的一个共同因素在多个大型全国性数据集中的重要性。
在这项比较研究中，我们纳入了瑞士公共卫生、营养和经济学领域最大的全国性和基于人群的研究，以及瑞士武装部队兵役体检的数据，其中包含 BMI 信息，如果可能的话，还包含腰高比（WHtR）和腰臀比（WHR）。
多项逻辑回归显示，在所有当代数据集中，男性和女性的超重概率（BMI ≥25.0 kg/m ）随着身高的增加而降低。这种负相关是恒定的，仅在 19 世纪 70 年代入伍者中测量时，身高增加与 BMI 较高相关，这种关联是阳性的。这种负相关不仅出现在 BMI 中，也出现在 WHtR 和 WHR 中。
我们的结果强调了身高作为超重的一个共同因素的重要性，表明身高与 BMI、WHtR 和 WHR 之间存在明显的负相关。有证据表明，早期生活环境暴露和与身高相关的等位基因可能导致这些关联。这些知识可以作为公共卫生领域预防计划的进一步起点。
