Gunnell D J, Smith G D, Frankel S J, Kemp M, Peters T J
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK.
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1998 Jul;12 Suppl 1:96-113. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3016.1998.0120s1096.x.
Social class differences in height have been recognised for many centuries. However, few studies have examined the extent to which these differences are made up of differences in leg length or trunk length. This paper reanalyses cross-sectional information on children examined in Britain in the 1930s. We assess associations between socio-economic status and diet and the components of childhood stature. The analyses were based on the records of 2990 children aged 2 years to 14 years 9 months who were examined in the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) survey of diet and health (1937-39). z-Scores for the measures of childhood stature were calculated using polynomial regression techniques with the study population as the standard. Univariable and multivariable statistical techniques were used to assess the relationships between childhood height, leg length and trunk length, and dietary and socio-economic factors measured at the level of the household. Leg length was the component of stature most strongly associated with measures of childhood diet and socio-economic status. A greater part of the difference in stature between socio-economic groups was caused by differences in leg length rather than trunk length. In multiple regression analyses, district of residence and family food expenditure were generally the two factors most strongly related to stature. In a subsample of the surveyed children, for whom birthweight information was available, trunk length and leg length were equally strongly related to birthweight. Leg length appears to be a particularly sensitive indicator of childhood socio-economic circumstances. Although contemporary studies highlight the importance of biological factors in determining childhood height, the data analysed in this study suggest that socio-economic circumstances were also important in explaining height differentials in prewar Britain.
身高方面的社会阶层差异已被认识数百年。然而，很少有研究考察这些差异在多大程度上由腿长或躯干长度的差异构成。本文重新分析了20世纪30年代在英国接受检查的儿童的横断面信息。我们评估社会经济地位与饮食以及儿童身高组成部分之间的关联。分析基于在卡内基（博伊德·奥尔）饮食与健康调查（1937 - 1939年）中接受检查的2990名2岁至14岁9个月儿童的记录。使用多项式回归技术以研究人群为标准计算儿童身高测量的z分数。采用单变量和多变量统计技术评估儿童身高、腿长和躯干长度与家庭层面测量的饮食和社会经济因素之间的关系。腿长是与儿童饮食和社会经济地位测量最密切相关的身高组成部分。社会经济群体之间身高差异的很大一部分是由腿长差异而非躯干长度差异造成的。在多元回归分析中，居住地区和家庭食品支出通常是与身高最密切相关的两个因素。在有出生体重信息的被调查儿童子样本中，躯干长度和腿长与出生体重的相关性同样强烈。腿长似乎是儿童社会经济状况的一个特别敏感的指标。尽管当代研究强调生物因素在决定儿童身高方面的重要性，但本研究分析的数据表明，社会经济状况在解释战前英国的身高差异方面也很重要。
