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Are inequalities in height underestimated by adult social position? Effects of changing social structure and height selection in a cohort study

BMJ 2002; 325 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7356.131 (Published 20 July 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:131
  1. Chris Power, professor (cpower{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk)a,
  2. Orly Manor, senior lecturerb,
  3. Leah Li, statistical research fellowa
  1. a Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH
  2. b School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University, Hadassah, PO Box 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
  1. Correspondence to: C Power
  • Accepted 15 January 2002

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate whether changing social structure and social mobility related to height generate (inflate) inequalities in height.

Design: Longitudinal 1958 British birth cohort study.

Setting: England, Scotland, and Wales.

Participants: 10 176 people born 3–9 March 1958 for whom data were available at age 33 years.

Main outcome measures: Adult height and social class at age 33 years; class of origin (father's occupation when participant was 7 years old).

Results: Adult height showed a social gradient with class at age 7 years and age 33 years. The difference in mean height between extreme groups was greater for class of origin than for adult class, reducing from 2.21 cm to 1.62 cm for men and from 2.18 cm to 1.74 cm for women. This narrowing inequality was due mainly to a decrease in mean height in classes I and II. This was because of the pattern of height related social mobility in which, for example, men moving into classes I and II were taller (mean 177.2 cm) than men remaining in class III manual (mean 176.1 cm) yet shorter than men with class I and II origins (mean 178.3 cm) and the relatively large number of individuals moving into classes I and II. Changes in the structure of society, seen here with the general trend of upward social mobility, have acted to diminish inequalities in adult height.

Conclusions: The combination of changing social structure and height related mobility constrains, rather than inflates, inequalities in height and may lead to an underestimation of the role of childhood socioeconomic factors in the development of inequalities in adult disease.

Footnotes

  • Funding The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research supports CP as a fellow.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Embedded Image Two figures illustrating the data in the tables can be found on bmj.com

  • Accepted 15 January 2002
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