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Differences in height by education among 371,105 Dutch military conscripts

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  • Huang, Ying
  • van Poppel, Frans
  • Lumey, L.H.

Abstract

Adult height is associated with a variety of familial and socio-economic factors and large, well-defined populations are needed for a reliable assessment of their relative contributions. We therefore analyzed recorded heights from the military health examinations of 18-year conscripts in the Netherlands born between 1944 and 1947 and observed large differences by their attained education and by their father's occupation. The 5.1cm height gradient from lowest to highest education level was more than twice as large as the gradient between father's occupation levels. The education gradient was not explained by common determinants of height including paternal occupation as a measure of familial background, region of birth, family size, or religion.

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  • Huang, Ying & van Poppel, Frans & Lumey, L.H., 2015. "Differences in height by education among 371,105 Dutch military conscripts," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 202-207.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:17:y:2015:i:c:p:202-207
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2014.11.002
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Height; Socio-economic background; Education; Cognition; Military conscripts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income

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