Edouard Mallet's early and almost forgotten study of the average height of Genevan conscripts in 1835

Staub, Kaspar; Rühli, Frank J; Bogin, Barry; Woitek, Ulrich; Pfister, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2011.03.001

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…Previous studies were performed on Genevan conscripts 27 and discussed differences in height in terms of environmental and economic determinants. 28 However, as these studies were done on conscript data only, they represent merely a part of the population, namely, young Swiss men. These studies do not include women, nor do they include adults with migration backgrounds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body height in adult women and men in a cross-sectional population-based survey in Geneva: temporal trends, association with general health status and height loss after age 50

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveOn the one hand, trends in average height in adulthood mirror changes in living standard and health status of a population and its subgroups; on the other hand, height in general, as well as the loss of height in older age in particular, are associated in different ways with outcomes for health. For these aspects, there is hardly any information for Switzerland based on representative and measured body height data.DesignRepeated cross-sectional survey study.SettingFully anonymised data from the representative population-based Geneva Bus Santé Study between 2005 and 2017 were analysed.MethodsData from N=8686 study participants were used in the trend analysis. Height was measured and sociodemographic information and self-rated health was collected via questionnaires. Follow-up (mean: 7.1 years) measurements from N=2112 participants were available to assess height loss after age 50.ResultsWomen were, on average, 166.2 cm (SD 6.5) tall and men 179.2 cm (SD 6.5). Among men and women, higher socioeconomic status was associated with taller average height. The flattening of the increase in height from the 1970s birth years appears to begin earlier in the subgroup with the highest education level. The tallest average height was measured for men and women from Central and Northern Europe, the shortest for South America and Asia. The likelihood that participants rated their health as ‘very good’ increased with greater body height. The follow-up data show that men lost −0.11 cm per follow-up year (95% CI −0.12 to −0.10), women −0.17 cm (95% CI −0.18 to 0.15).ConclusionsThe association of height and health status is currently understudied. Monitoring changes in average body height may indicate disparities in different subgroups of populations. Based on our study and a growing literature, we think that the multifaceted role of body height should be better considered in clinical practice.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body height in adult women and men in a cross-sectional population-based survey in Geneva: temporal trends, association with general health status and height loss after age 50

et al. 2022

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Social inequality and the biological standard of living: An anthropometric analysis of Swiss conscription data, 1875–1950

Schoch

Staub

Pfister

2012

Economics & Human Biology

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We analyze the first representative series of individual measurements of the height of Swiss conscripts for the years . We find that average height followed a general upward time trend, but the economic downturn in the 1880s slowed down the increase in rural average-heights while the economic crisis subsequent to World War I had only a minor effect. Moreover, social-class affiliation was the most important determinant of differences in the biological standard of living, with class and regional disparities remaining constant, for the most part, during the observation period. Lower-class individuals' ability to overcome economic stress was limited, with the result that their biological standard of living, as reflected in the cyclicality of deviations from average height, was likely to be affected by cycles in economic activity. AbstractWe analyze the first representative series of individual measurements of the height of Swiss conscripts for the years 1875-1950. We find that average height followed a general upward time trend, but the economic downturn in the 1880s slowed down the increase in rural average-heights while the economic crisis subsequent to World War I had only a minor effect. Moreover, social-class affiliation was the most important determinant of differences in the biological standard of living, with class and regional disparities remaining constant, for the most part, during the observation period. Lower-class individuals' ability to overcome economic stress was limited, with the result that their biological standard of living, as reflected in the cyclicality of deviations from average height, was likely to be affected by cycles in economic activity.

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“From growth in height to growth in breadth”: The changing body shape of Swiss conscripts since the late 19th century and possible endocrine explanations

Staub

Rühli

2013

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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Edouard Mallet's early and almost forgotten study of the average height of Genevan conscripts in 1835

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

Body height in adult women and men in a cross-sectional population-based survey in Geneva: temporal trends, association with general health status and height loss after age 50

Body height in adult women and men in a cross-sectional population-based survey in Geneva: temporal trends, association with general health status and height loss after age 50

Social inequality and the biological standard of living: An anthropometric analysis of Swiss conscription data, 1875–1950

“From growth in height to growth in breadth”: The changing body shape of Swiss conscripts since the late 19th century and possible endocrine explanations

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