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A Tall Story: Characteristics, Causes, and Consequences of Stature Loss

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Fernihough

    (Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin)

  • Mark E. McGovern

    (Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies)

Abstract
Height is widely used as an objective measure of health status. It is commonly used in the large body of research evaluating welfare trends in historic populations and the long-run impacts of childhood environment. However, few research papers have examined the extent, causes or consequences of stature loss in aging populations. This is surprising, as many studies rely on the assumption that height is fixed in late adolescence. Using repeated observations on objectively measured data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), we document that stature loss is an important phenomenon among older individuals, and demonstrate how the use of unadjusted height will dramatically overstate health improvements for younger birth cohorts in cross sectional data. We show that there is an absence of consistent predictors of stature loss at the individual level. However, we exploit the panel element of the ELSA survey to show how deteriorating health and stature loss occur in tandem. While our analysis details the inherent bias of height measurements in older populations, we do not find that significant differences arise from the use of unadjusted height as an input in typical empirical health production function models.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Fernihough & Mark E. McGovern, 2013. "A Tall Story: Characteristics, Causes, and Consequences of Stature Loss," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp429, IIIS.
    • Handle: RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp429
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Evidence on Stature Loss
      by Mark McGovern in Economics and Psychology Research on 2013-06-16 20:11:00
    2. Physical Stature Decline and the Health Status of the Elderly Population in England
      by Mark McGovern in Economics, Psychology and Policy on 2014-01-30 01:59:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

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    2. Chae, Minhee & Hatton, Timothy J. & Meng, Xin, 2023. "Explaining trends in adult height in China: 1950 to 1990," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    3. Akachi, Yoko & Canning, David, 2015. "Inferring the economic standard of living and health from cohort height: Evidence from modern populations in developing countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 114-128.
    4. Sanchez Alonso, Blanca, 2023. "Losing height: measuring the regional loss of human capital from the Republican exile to Mexico," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 36345, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    5. Kathryn E. Kemper & Julia Sidorenko & Huanwei Wang & Ben J. Hayes & Naomi R. Wray & Loic Yengo & Matthew C. Keller & Michael Goddard & Peter M. Visscher, 2024. "Genetic influence on within-person longitudinal change in anthropometric traits in the UK Biobank," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Santiago-Caballero, Carlos, 2021. "The gender gap in the biological living standard in Spain. A study based on the heights of an elite migration to Mexico, 1840-1930," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    7. Mosca, Irene & Wright, Robert E., 2016. "Height and cognition at older ages: Irish evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 98-101.
    8. Matthias Blum & Christopher L. Colvin & Eoin McLaughlin, 2017. "Scarring and Selection in the Great Irish Famine," Discussion Papers in Environment and Development Economics 2017-10, University of St. Andrews, School of Geography and Sustainable Development.
    9. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    10. Akachi, Yoko & Canning, David, 2015. "Inferring the economic standard of living and health from cohort height: Evidence from modern populations in developing countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 114-128.
    11. Y Selvamani & Pushpendra Singh, 2018. "Socioeconomic patterns of underweight and its association with self-rated health, cognition and quality of life among older adults in India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Blanca Sánchez-Alonso & Carlos Santiago-Caballero, 2021. "The loss of human capital after the Spanish civil war," Working Papers 0212, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    13. Sanchez Alonso, Blanca & Santiago Caballero, Carlos, 2023. "Losing height: measuring the regional loss of human capital from the Republican exile to Mexico," DES - Working Papers. Statistics and Econometrics. WS 36345, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Estadística.
    14. Olbrich, Lukas & Kosyakova, Yuliya & Sakshaug, Joseph W., 2022. "The reliability of adult self-reported height: The role of interviewers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    15. Vinci, Linda & Floris, Joël & Koepke, Nikola & Matthes, Katarina L. & Bochud, Murielle & Bender, Nicole & Rohrmann, Sabine & Faeh, David & Staub, Kaspar, 2019. "Have Swiss adult males and females stopped growing taller? Evidence from the population-based nutrition survey menuCH, 2014/2015," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-210.
    16. Arnulfo Ramos-Jiménez & Rosa P. Hernández-Torres & Isaac A. Chávez-Guevara & José A. Alvarez-Sanchez & Marco A. García-Villalvazo & Miguel Murguía-Romero, 2022. "Anthropometric Equations to Determine Maximum Height in Adults ≥ 60 Years: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, April.
    17. Cavaglia, Chiara & Etheridge, Ben, 2020. "Job polarization and the declining quality of knowledge workers: Evidence from the UK and Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Jinkook Lee & McGovern, Mark E. & David E. Bloom & P. Arokiasamy & Arun Risbud & Jennifer O?Brien & Varsha Kale & Peifeng Hu, 2015. "Education, Gender, and State-Level Gradients in the Health of Older Indians: Evidence from Biomarker Data," Working Paper 228841, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    19. Persaud, Alexander, 2023. "Historical height measurement consistency: Evidence from colonial Trinidad," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Matthias Blum & Claudia Rei, 2018. "Escaping Europe: health and human capital of Holocaust refugees1," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 22(1), pages 1-27.
    21. Jain, Urvashi & Ma, Mingming, 2020. "Height shrinkage, health and mortality among older adults: Evidence from Indonesia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    22. Masato Oikawa, 2024. "The role of education in health policy reform outcomes: evidence from Japan," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 49-76, February.
    23. Marein, Brian, 2020. "Economic development in Puerto Rico after US annexation: Anthropometric evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    24. Cavaglia, Chiara & Etheridge, Ben, 2020. "Job polarization and the declining quality of knowledge workers: evidence from the UK and Germany," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105819, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Height; Stature Loss; Early Life Conditions; Health; Aging;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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