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The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note

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This paper presents new evidence on the evolution of adult height in 10 European countries for cohorts born between 1950 and 1980 using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), which collects height data from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Our findings show a gradual increase in adult height across all countries. However, countries from Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain) experienced higher gains in stature than those located in Northern Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Sweden).

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  • Jaume Garcia Villar & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2006. "The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note," Economics Working Papers 1002, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Feb 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1002
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    1. Komlos, John & Baur, Marieluise, 2004. "From the tallest to (one of) the fattest: the enigmatic fate of the American population in the 20th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 57-74, March.
    2. Garcia, Jaume & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2007. "The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 340-349, July.
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    9. Richard H. Steckel, 1995. "Stature and the Standard of Living," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1903-1940, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Holger Strulik, 2014. "Physiological Constraints and Comparative Economic Development," Discussion Papers 14-21, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    2. van den Berg, G. J & Lundborg P & Nystedt P & Rooth D, 2009. "Critical Periods During Childhood and Adolescence: A Study of Adult Height Among Immigrant Siblings," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 09/20, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    3. Ranasinghe, Priyanga & Jayawardana, M.A. Naveen A.A.D. & Constantine, Godwin R. & Sheriff, M.H. Rezvi & Matthews, David R. & Katulanda, Prasad, 2011. "Patterns and correlates of adult height in Sri Lanka," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 23-29, January.
    4. Hatton, Timothy J. & Bray, Bernice E., 2010. "Long run trends in the heights of European men, 19th-20th centuries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 405-413, December.
    5. Carlos Bozzoli & Angus Deaton & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2009. "Adult height and childhood disease," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(4), pages 647-669, November.
    6. S V Subramanian & Emre Özaltin & Jocelyn E Finlay, 2011. "Height of Nations: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Cohort Differences and Patterns among Women in 54 Low- to Middle-Income Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(4), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Maria-Dolores, Ramon & Martínez Carrion, José Miguel, 2012. "The comovement between height and some economic development indicators in Spain," UMUFAE Economics Working Papers 26464, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia.
    8. Guven, Cahit & Lee, Wang-Sheng, 2015. "Height, aging and cognitive abilities across Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 16-29.
    9. Quintana-Domeque, Climent & Bozzoli, Carlos & Bosch, Mariano, 2012. "The evolution of adult height across Spanish regions, 1950–1980: A new source of data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 264-275.
    10. van Kippersluis, Hans & Van Ourti, Tom & O'Donnell, Owen & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2009. "Health and income across the life cycle and generations in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 818-830, July.
    11. Elena Sánchez-García & José-Miguel Martinez-Carrión & Jose Manuel Terán & Carlos Varea, 2021. "Biological Well-Being during the “Economic Miracle” in Spain: Height, Weight and Body Mass Index of Conscripts in the City of Madrid, 1955–1974," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-16, December.
    12. Garcia, Jaume & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2007. "The evolution of adult height in Europe: A brief note," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 340-349, July.
    13. Timothy J. Hatton, 2014. "How have Europeans grown so tall?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(2), pages 349-372.
    14. Mummert, Amanda & Esche, Emily & Robinson, Joshua & Armelagos, George J., 2011. "Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: Evidence from the bioarchaeological record," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 284-301, July.
    15. Ramón María-Dolores & José Miguel Martínez Carrión, 2009. "The relationship between height and economic development in Spain. A historical perspective," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 0912, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    16. Candela-Martínez, Begoña & Ramallo-Ros, Salvador & Cañabate, José & Martínez-Carrión, José-Miguel, 2022. "Month of birth and height. A case study in rural Spain," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    17. McEvoy, Brian P. & Visscher, Peter M., 2009. "Genetics of human height," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 294-306, December.
    18. María-Dolores, Ramón & Martínez-Carrión, José Miguel, 2011. "The relationship between height and economic development in Spain, 1850-1958," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 30-44, January.
    19. Guven, Cahit & Lee, Wang-Sheng, 2011. "Height and Cognitive Function among Older Europeans: Do People from "Tall" Countries Have Superior Cognitive Abilities?," IZA Discussion Papers 6210, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Pieroni, L. & Salmasi, L., 2014. "Fast-food consumption and body weight. Evidence from the UK," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 94-105.
    21. Mariano Bosch & Carlos Bozzoli & Climent Quintana, 2009. "Infant mortality, income and adult stature in Spain," Working Papers 2009-27, FEDEA.
    22. Quintana-Domeque, Climent & Bozzoli, Carlos & Bosch, Mariano, 2011. "Infant mortality and adult stature in Spain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1893-1903, June.
    23. Carlos Bozzoli & Angus Deaton & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2009. "Adult height and childhood disease," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(4), pages 647-669, November.
    24. Fernanda Karina dos Santos & José A R Maia & Thayse Natacha Q F Gomes & Timóteo Daca & Aspacia Madeira & Peter T Katzmarzyk & António Prista, 2014. "Secular Trends in Growth and Nutritional Status of Mozambican School-Aged Children and Adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, December.
    25. Samantha Rawlings & Zahra Siddique, 2020. "Domestic Violence and Child Mortality in the Developing World," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(4), pages 723-750, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Europe; height; ECHP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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