Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T15:15:00.013Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

GLOBAL VARIANCE IN FEMALE POPULATION HEIGHT: THE INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION, INCOME, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, LIFE EXPECTANCY, MORTALITY AND GENDER INEQUALITY IN 96 NATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2013

QUENTIN J. MARK
QUENTIN J. MARK*
Affiliation:
Eureka, California, USA
*
1Corresponding author: Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Human height is a heritable trait that is known to be influenced by environmental factors and general standard of living. Individual and population stature is correlated with health, education and economic achievement. Strong sexual selection pressures for stature have been observed in multiple diverse populations, however; there is significant global variance in gender equality and prohibitions on female mate selection. This paper explores the contribution of general standard of living and gender inequality to the variance in global female population heights. Female population heights of 96 nations were culled from previously published sources and public access databases. Factor analysis with United Nations international data on education rates, life expectancy, incomes, maternal and childhood mortality rates, ratios of gender participation in education and politics, the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was run. Results indicate that population heights vary more closely with gender inequality than with population health, income or education.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 107 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akachi, Y. & Canning, D. (2007) The height of women in Sub-Saharan Africa: the role of health, nutrition, and income in childhood. Annals of Human Biology 34, 397–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allahbadia, G. N. (2002) The 50 million missing women. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 19, 411–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Apodaca, C. (1998) Measuring women's economic and social rights achievement. Human Rights Quarterly 20, 139–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashizawa, K., Rahmawati, N. T. & Hastuti, J. (2009) Body size and shape, and its secular change in Javanese-Indonesian adults. Anthropological Science 117, 165–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1995) How Australians Measure Up. URL: www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/Lookup/CA25687100069892CA256889001F4A36/$File/43590_1995.pdfGoogle Scholar
Beard, A. S. & Blaser, M. J. (2002) The ecology of height. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 45, 475–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bener, A. & Kamal, A. A. (2005) Growth patterns of Qatari school children and adolescents aged 6–18 years. Journal of Health and Population Nutrition 23, 250–258.Google ScholarPubMed
Blau, F. D. & Kahn, L. M. (2003) Understanding international differences in the gender pay gap. Journal of Labor Economics 21, 106–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, D. S. (2004) Democracy and gender inequality in education: a cross-national examination. British Journal of Political Science 34, 137–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buretić-Tomljanović, A., Ristić, S., Brajenović-Milić, B., Ostojić, S., Gombač, E. & Kapović, M. (2003) Secular change in body height and cephalic index of Croatian medical students (University of Rijeka). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 123, 91–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buss, D. M. & Schmitt, D. (1993) Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychology Review 100, 204–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christensen, K., Ørstavik, K. H. & Vaupel, J. W. (2001) The X chromosome and the female survival advantage. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 954, 175–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Courtiol, A., Picq, S., Godelle, B., Raymond, M. & Ferdy, J-B. (2010) From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape. PLoS ONE 5(9), e13010.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Courtiol, A., Raymond, M., Godelle, B. & Ferdy, J-B. (2010) Mate choice and human stature homogeny as a unified framework for understanding mating preferences. Evolution 64, 2189–2203.Google Scholar
Dagbjartsson, A., Thorsson, A. V., Palsson, G. I. & Arnorsson, V. H. (2000) Height and weight of Icelandic children 6–20 years of age. Laeknabladid 86, 509–514. (English summary available at: http://lsh.openrepository.com/lsh/bitstream/2336/30932/1/L2000-07-86-F1.pdf).Google ScholarPubMed
Deaton, A. (2007) Height, health and development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 104, 232–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dijkstra, A. (2002) Revisiting UNDP'S GDI and GEM: towards an alternative. Social Indicators Research 57, 301–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorius, S. F. & Firebaugh, G. (2010) Trends in global gender inequality. Social Forces 85, 1941–1968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engeland, A., Bjørge, T., Søgaard, A. J. & Tverdal, A. (2003) Body mass index in adolescence in relation to total mortality: 32-year follow-up of 227,000 Norwegian boys and girls. American Journal of Epidemiology 157, 517–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eveleth, P. B. (1975) Differences between ethnic groups in sex dimorphism of adult height. Annals of Human Biology 2, 35–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fafchamps, M. & Quisumbing, A. R. (1999) Human capital, productivity, and labor allocation in rural Pakistan. Journal of Human Resources 34, 369–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, B., Neave, N., Brewer, G. & Pawlowski, B. (2007) Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in stature: further evidence for an adjustment in relation to own height. Personality and Individual Differences 43, 2249–2257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, R. A. (1958) Sexual reproduction and sexual selection. In Bennett, H. (ed.) The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 121–145.Google Scholar
Fogel, R., Engerman, S. & Trussel, J. (1982) Exploring the uses of data on height: the analysis of long-term trends in nutrition, labor welfare and labor productivity. Social Science Historian 6, 401–581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Food and Nutrition Research Institute (2009) Philippine Facts and Figures 2003: Part II. Anthropometric Facts and Figures. URL: http://fnri.dost.gov.ph/files/fnri%20files/nns/factsandfigures2003/anthropometric.pdfGoogle Scholar
Gangestad, S. & Thornhill, R. (1997) The evolutionary psychology of extra pair sex: the role of fluctuating asymmetry. Evolution and Human Behavior 18, 69–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gangestad, S. W., Simpson, J. A., Cousins, A. J., Garver-Apgar, C. E. & Christensen, P. N. (2004) Women's preferences for male behavioral displays change across the menstrual cycle. Psychological Science 15, 203–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
García, J. & Quintana-Domeque, C. (2007) The evolution of adult height in Europe: a brief note. Economics and Human Biology 5, 340–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaulin, S. & Boster, J. (1985) Cross-cultural differences in sexual dimorphism – is there any variance to be explained? Ethnology and Sociobiology 6, 219–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haghdoost, A. A., Mirzazadeh, A. & Alikhani, S. (2008) Secular trend of height variations in Iranian population born between 1940 and 1984. Iranian Journal of Public Health 37, 1–7.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1967) Extraordinary sex ratios. A sex-ratio theory for sex linkage and inbreeding has new implications in cytogenetics and entomology. Science 156, 477–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hausmann, R., Tyson, L. D. & Zahidi, S. (2011) The Global Gender Gap Report 2011. URL: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-2011/#=Google Scholar
Heineck, G. (2005) Up in the skies? The relationship between body height and earnings in Germany. Labour 19, 469–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hung, M. V. & Park, S. (2008) The impact of environment on morphological and physical indexes of Vietnamese and South Korean students. VNU Journal of Science, Natural Sciences and Technology 24, 50–55.Google Scholar
Khalid, M. (1995) Anthropometric comparison between high- and low-altitude Saudi Arabians. Annals of Human Biology 22, 459–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Health (2002) National Nutrition Survey for Adult Bahrainis Aged 19 Years and Above. URL: http://www.moh.gov.bh/PDF/survey/nut_survey1.pdfGoogle Scholar
Kirchengast, S. (2000) Differential reproductive success and body size in !Kung San people from northern Namibia. Collegium Antropologicum 24, 1.Google ScholarPubMed
Kirchengast, S. & Winkler, E. M. (1995) Differential reproductive success and body dimensions in Kavango males from urban and rural areas in northern Namibia. Human Biology 67, 91–309.Google Scholar
Klasen, S. & Wink, C. (2004) A turning point in gender bias in mortality? An update on the number of missing women. Population and Development Review 28, 285–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lim, L. L., Seubsman, S. & Sleigh, A. (2009) Validity of self-reported weight, height, and body mass index among university students in Thailand: implications for population studies of obesity in developing countries. Population Health Metrics 7, 15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lim, T. O., Ding, L. M., Zaki, M., Suleiman, A. B., Fatimah, S., Siti, S.et al. (2000) Distribution of body weight, height and body mass index in a national sample of Malaysian adults. Medical Journal of Malaysia 55, 108–128.Google Scholar
Lin, Y-C., Wang, M-J. J. & Wang, E. M. (2004). The comparisons of anthropometric characteristics among four peoples in East Asia. Applied Ergonomics 35, 173–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lippa, R. (2006) Sex differences in sex drive, sociosexuality, and height across 53 nations: testing evolutionary and social structural theories. Archive of Sexual Behavior 37, 173–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, B. S. (2005) Women's lives there, here, then, now: a review of women's ecological and demographic constraints cross-culturally. Evolution and Human Behavior 26, 64–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynna, R., Allikb, J. & Must, O. (2000) Sex differences in brain size, stature and intelligence in children and adolescents: some evidence from Estonia. Personality and Individual Differences 29, 555–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macro International (2011) Demographic and Health Survey. MEASURE DHS STATcompiler, Macro International Inc. URL: http://www.measuredhs.com (accessed 10th May 2011).Google Scholar
McDowell, M. A., Fryar, C. D., Ogden, C. L. & Flegal, K. M. (2008) Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults: United States, 2003–2006. National Health Statistics Reports No. 10. National Center for Health Statistics Hyattsville, MD.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKellar, A. E. & Hendry, A. P. (2009) How humans differ from other animals in their levels of morphological variation. PLoS ONE 4(9), e6876.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mandel, D., Zimlichman, E., Mimouni, F. B., Grotto, I. & Kreiss, Y. (2004) Height-related changes in body mass index: a reappraisal. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 23, 51–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Monden, C. W. S. & Smits, J. (2008) Maternal height and child mortality in 42 developing countries. American Journal of Human Biology 21, 305–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moorad, J. A., Promislow, D. E. L., Smith, K. R. & Wade, M. J. (2011) Mating system change reduces the strength of sexual selection in an American frontier population of the 19th century. Evolution and Human Behavior 32, 147–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moradi, A. (2010) Nutritional status and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, 1950–1980. Economics and Human Biology 8, 16–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mueller, U. & Mazur, A. (2001) Evidence of unconstrained directional selection for male tallness. Behavioral and Ecolological Sociobiology 50, 302–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Statistics Office (2003) The Maltese Way of Life. Library & Information Unit, National Statistics Office, Lascaris Valletta CMR 02, Malta. URL: https://secure.gov.mt/nso/statdoc/document_file.aspx?id=573Google Scholar
Nettle, D. (2002a) Height and reproductive success in a cohort of British men. Human Nature 13, 473–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nettle, D. (2002b) Women's height, reproductive success and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in modern humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences 269, 1919–1923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NHS (2008) Health Survey for England. NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre. URL: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles-related-surveys/health-survey-for-england/health-survey-for-england--2008-trend-tables.Google Scholar
Okosuns, I., Cooper, R. S., Rotimi, C. N., Osotimehin, B. & Forrester, T. (1998) Association of waist circumference with risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes in Nigerians, Jamaicans, and African-Americans. Diabetes Care 21, 1836–1842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osuna-Ramírez, I., Hernández-Prado, B., Campuzano, J. C. & Salmerón, J. (2006) Body mass index and body image perception in Mexican adult population: the accuracy of self-reporting. Salud Publica da Mexico 48, 94–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Padez, C. & Johnston, F. (1999) Secular trends in male adult height 1904–1996 in relation to place of residence and parents’ education level in Portugal. Annals of Human Biology 26, 287–298.Google ScholarPubMed
Pawlowski, B. (2003) Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in height as a strategy for increasing the pool of potential partners in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences 270, 709–712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pawlowski, B., Dunbar, R. & Lipowicz, A. (2000) Evolutionary fitness: tall men have more reproductive success. Nature 403, 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pawlowski, B. & Jasienska, G. (2005) Women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in height depend on menstrual cycle phase and expected duration of relationship. Biological Psychology 70, 38–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pierce, C. (1996) Body height and romantic attraction: a meta-analytic test of the male-taller norm. Social Behavior and Personality 24, 143–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prokop, P. & Fedor, P. (2011) Physical attractiveness influences reproductive success of modern men. Journal of Ethology 29, 453–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puoane, T., Steyn, K., Bradshaw, D., Laubscher, R., Fourie, J., Lambert, V. & Mbananga, N. (2002) Obesity in South Africa: The South African Demographic and Health Survey. Obesity Research 10, 1038–1048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ranasinghe, P., Jayawardana, M. A. N. A. D., Constantine, G. R., Sheriff, M. H. R., Matthews, D. R. & Katulanda, P. (2010) Patterns and correlates of adult height in Sri Lanka. Economics and Human Biology 9, 23–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W. & Peters, M. (2005) Attractiveness and sexual behavior: does attractiveness enhance mating success? Evolution and Human Behavior 26, 186–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roby, J. (2005) Women and children in the global sex trade: toward more effective policy. International Social Work 48(2), 136–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandberg, L. & Steckel, H. (1997) Was industrialization hazardous to your health? Not in Sweden. In Richard, A., Steckel, H. & Floud, R. (eds) Health and Welfare during Industrialization. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Schmitt, D. P., Realo, A., Voracek, M. & Allik, J. (2008) Why can't a man be more like a women? Sex differences in big 5 personality traits across 55 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94, 168–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schouten, L. J., Goldbohm, R. A. & Van Den Brandt, P. A. (2003) Height, weight, weight change, and ovarian cancer risk in the Netherlands cohort study on diet and cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology 157, 424–433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultz, T. P. (2005) Productive Benefits of Health: Evidence from Low-Income Countries. IZA Discussion Paper No. 1482. Yale University Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper No. 903. URL: http://www.econ.yale.edu/~pschultz/productivebenefitsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. & Rubel-Lifschitz, T. (2009) Cross-national variation in the size of sex differences in values: effects of gender equality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97, 171–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sear, R. (2006a) Size-dependent reproductive success in Gambian men: does height or weight matter more? Biodemographic and Sociological Biology 53, 172–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sear, R. (2006b) Height and reproductive success: how a Gambian population compares to the West. Human Nature 17, 405–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sear, R., Allal, N. & Mace, R. (2004) Height, marriage and reproductive success in Gambian Women. Research in Economics and Anthropology 23, 203–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sear, R. & Marlowe, F. W. (2009) How universal are human mate choices? Size does not matter when Hadza foragers are choosing a mate. Biological Letters 5, 606–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. (1992) Missing women: social inequality outweighs women's survival advantage in Asia and north Africa. British Medical Journal 304, 587–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shields, M., Gorber, S. C. & Tremblay, M. S. (2008) Estimates of Obesity Based on Self-Report versus Direct Measures. Health Reports 19, 2. Statistics Canada, Catalogue 82-003.Google Scholar
Silventoinen, K. (2003) Determinants of variation in adult body height. Journal of Biosocial Science 35, 263–285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh-Manoux, A., Gourmelena, J., Ferrieb, J., Silventoinen, K., Guéguena, A., Stringhinia, S.et al. (2010) Trends in the association between height and socioeconomic indicators in France, 1970–2003. Economics and Human Biology 8, 396–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sorokowski, P., Sorokowska, A., Fink, B. & Mberira, M. (2011) Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS) might not be universal: data from a semi nomad population (Himba) in Namibia. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology doi: 10.1177/0022022110395140.Google Scholar
Stearns, C. S., Byars, S. G., Govindaraju, D. R. & Ewbank, D. (2010) Measuring selection in contemporary populations. Nature Reviews Genetics doi: 10.1038/nrg2831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steckel, R. (1991) Heights, living standards, and history: a review essay. Historical Methods 24, 183–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steckel, R. H. (2009) Heights and human welfare: recent developments and new directions. Explorations in Economic History () 46, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strickland, S. S. & Tuffrey, V. R. (1997) Parental investment theory and birth sex ratios in Nepal. Journal of Biosocial Science 29, 283–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Subramanian, S. V., Ozaltin, E. & Finlay, J. E. (2011) Height of nations: a socioeconomic analysis of cohort differences and patterns among women in 54 low to middle-income countries. PLoS ONE 6(4), 18962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swami, V., Furnham, A., Balakumar, N., Williams, C., Canaway, K. & Stanistreets, D. (2008) Factors influencing preferences for height: a replication and extension. Personality and Individual Differences 45, 395–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, J. (1962) Growth at Adolescence. Blackwell Scientific Publication, Oxford, New York.Google Scholar
Toubia, N. F. & Sharief, E. H. (2003) Female genital mutilation: have we made progress? International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 82, 251–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tracer, D. P. (1991) Fertility-related changes in maternal body composition among the Au of Papua New Guinea. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 85, 393–405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trivers, R. (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In Campbell, B. (ed.) Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 136–179.Google Scholar
Trivers, R. L. & Willard, D. (1973) Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science 179, 90–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations (2008) United Nations Human Development Reports, 2008. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/Google Scholar
United Nations (2010) United Nations Human Development Reports, 2010. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/Google Scholar
Valenzuela, C. Y., Rothhammer, F. & Chakraborty, R. (1978) Sex dimorphism in adult stature in four Chilean populations. Annals of Human Biology 5, 533–538.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, C. & Zimmerman, C. (2002) Violence against women: global scope and magnitude. Lancet 359, 1232–1237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, E. A., Kuh, D., Pajak, A., Kubinova, R., Malyutina, S. & Bobak, M. (2008) Estimation of secular trends in adult height, and childhood socioeconomic circumstances in three Eastern European populations. Economics & Human Biology 6, 228–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodward, M., Barzi, F., Martiniuk, A., Fang, X., Gu, D. F., Imai, Y.et al. (2006) Cohort profile: the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. International Journal of Epidemiology 35, 1412–1416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (2006) Mongolian STEPS Survey on the Prevalence of Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factors. URL: http://www.who.int/chp/steps/27%20December%202006%20Mongolia%20STEPS%20Survey.pdfGoogle Scholar
Wronka, I. & Pawliñska-Chmara, R. (2009) Childhood environment and adult height among Polish university students. Collegium Antropologicum 33, 1039–1045.Google ScholarPubMed