Avoiding “Too Tall” and “Too Short”: The Effect of the Community on the Regulation of Body Height

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY

American Journal of Human Biology Pub Date : 2025-06-12 DOI:10.1002/ajhb.70085

Michael Hermanussen, Christian Aßmann, Christiane Scheffler

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Recent evidence emphasizes the role of social signaling in the regulation of human growth.

Aim

To disentangle the influence of physical living conditions such as wealth, health, nutrition, and education from influences that are transmitted among members of the social group.

We consider the spectrum of all historically possible heights (“transgenerational growth potential”) and disentangle the influence of the physical living conditions from influences that are transmitted among members of the same social group. We ask (1) what is the magnitude of the “transgenerational growth potential”? and (2) to what extent narrows this potential upon entering a specific historic community?

Samples and Methods

We report on the height of more than 14 million German conscripts and recruits born between 1865 and 1975.

Results

Between the late 19th and the late 20th centuries, mean male height increased from 165.8 cm (SD 6.5 cm) to 180.1 cm (SD 7.0 cm). The skewness of the height distribution was always close to zero. Height was statistically associated with living conditions, but the association disappeared when linking characteristics of the within population distribution of height with the disparity of living conditions and economic inequality. Mean height of the social community is a strong attractor of individual height and reduces the “transgenerational growth potential” by more than 50%.

Conclusion

Strong effects of the social community outweigh the effect of individual living conditions and substantially narrow the transgenerational growth potential, to protect against being “too tall” or “too short” within the social community.

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避免“太高”和“太矮”：社区对身高调节的影响

最近的证据强调了社会信号在人类生长调节中的作用。目的将物质生活条件（如财富、健康、营养和教育）的影响与社会群体成员之间传递的影响区分开来。我们考虑了所有历史上可能的高度（“跨代增长潜力”），并将物质生活条件的影响与同一社会群体成员之间传递的影响分开。我们问(1)“跨代增长潜力”的大小是多少？(2)进入一个特定的历史社区后，这种潜力缩小到什么程度？我们报告了1865年至1975年间出生的1400多万德国应征入伍者和新兵的身高。结果19世纪末至20世纪末，男性平均身高由165.8 cm （SD 6.5 cm）上升至180.1 cm （SD 7.0 cm）。高度分布的偏度总是接近于零。身高在统计学上与生活条件相关，但当将身高的人口内部分布特征与生活条件差异和经济不平等联系起来时，这种关联就消失了。社会群体的平均身高对个体身高有很强的吸引力，使“跨代增长潜力”降低了50%以上。结论社会群体的强烈影响超过了个体生活条件的影响，大大缩小了跨代成长潜力，以防止社会群体内的“太高”或“太矮”。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

American Journal of Human Biology 生物-生物学

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

13.80%

发文量

124

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The American Journal of Human Biology is the Official Journal of the Human Biology Association. The American Journal of Human Biology is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed, internationally circulated journal that publishes reports of original research, theoretical articles and timely reviews, and brief communications in the interdisciplinary field of human biology. As the official journal of the Human Biology Association, the Journal also publishes abstracts of research presented at its annual scientific meeting and book reviews relevant to the field. The Journal seeks scholarly manuscripts that address all aspects of human biology, health, and disease, particularly those that stress comparative, developmental, ecological, or evolutionary perspectives. The transdisciplinary areas covered in the Journal include, but are not limited to, epidemiology, genetic variation, population biology and demography, physiology, anatomy, nutrition, growth and aging, physical performance, physical activity and fitness, ecology, and evolution, along with their interactions. The Journal publishes basic, applied, and methodologically oriented research from all areas, including measurement, analytical techniques and strategies, and computer applications in human biology. Like many other biologically oriented disciplines, the field of human biology has undergone considerable growth and diversification in recent years, and the expansion of the aims and scope of the Journal is a reflection of this growth and membership diversification. The Journal is committed to prompt review, and priority publication is given to manuscripts with novel or timely findings, and to manuscripts of unusual interest.