Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:22:14.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Educational level and its relationship with body height and popliteal height in Chilean male workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2019

Carlos Viviani Open the ORCID record for Carlos Viviani [Opens in a new window] ,
Héctor Ignacio Castellucci ,
Pedro Arezes ,
Ángelo Bartsch ,
Sara Bragança ,
Johan F. M. Molenbroek ,
Marta Martínez  and
Verónica Aparici
Carlos Viviani*
Affiliation:
Escuela de Kinesiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile
Héctor Ignacio Castellucci
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudio del Trabajo y Factores Humanos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
Pedro Arezes
Affiliation:
ALGORITMI Centre, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
Ángelo Bartsch
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudio del Trabajo y Factores Humanos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
Sara Bragança
Affiliation:
Research, Innovation and Enterprise, Solent University, Southampton, UK
Johan F. M. Molenbroek
Affiliation:
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Section Applied Ergonomics and Design, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
Marta Martínez
Affiliation:
Mutual de la Cámara Chilena de la Construcción, Santiago, Chile
Verónica Aparici
Affiliation:
Carrera de Kinesiología, Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Viña del Mar, Viña del Mar, Chile
*
*Corresponding author. Email: cviviani@ergocare.cl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A secular trend in body height has been experienced in many nations and populations, hypothesized to be the result of better living conditions. Educational level has been shown to be closely associated with body height. This study examined the changes in body height and popliteal height in a group of adult Chilean male workers by age cohort and the relationship of these with educational level. The body heights and popliteal heights of 1404 male workers from the Valparaíso and Metropolitan regions of Chile were measured in 2016. The sample was grouped by level of education (primary, secondary, technical and university) and age (21–30, 31–40 and 41–50 years). Robust ANOVA and post-hoc analyses using a one-step modified M-estimation of location were conducted based on bootstrap resampling. Both body height and popliteal height increased from the older to the younger age cohort. The largest increase was from the 41–50 to the 21–30 group, with a 1.1% increase in body height and 1.7% increase in popliteal height. When educational level was introduced into the analysis there was a marked increase in both body height and popliteal height for each cohort, but only in primary- and secondary-educated workers. Despite showing an overall increase in body height and popliteal height, younger workers with the highest levels of education showed fewer differences between them than did older workers with less education. The differences were larger in the older than in the younger cohorts. Similarly, this trend was less clear in workers with higher levels of education (technical and university), probably because of a dilution effect caused by increased access to higher education by workers in the lower income quintiles.

Keywords

Secular trendLower LegAnthropometry
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 5 , September 2020 , pp. 734 - 745
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arcaleni, E (2006) Secular trend and regional differences in the stature of Italians, 1854–1980. Economics and Human Biology 4(1), 24–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Argote, RB and Portales, UD (1992) Peso, talla y perímetro craneano de escolares de la Región Metropolitana de Chile, de acuerdo al nivel socioeconómico. Revista Chilena de Pediatría 63(6), 321–327.Google Scholar
Arzola, MP (2011) CASEN 2011: Aumento de Cobertura en Educación Superior en los primeros quintiles. Santiago de Chile. URL: http://lyd.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Cobertura-ed-superior-por-quintil-y-tipo-IES-CASEN-2011.pdfGoogle Scholar
Baynouna, LM, Revel, AD, Nagelkerke, NJD, Jaber, TM, Omar, AO, Ahmed, NMet al. (2009) Secular trend in height in Al Ain-United Arab Emirates. Economics and Human Biology 7(3), 405–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benavente, JM and Alvarez, P (2012) Evaluación de Impacto de las Becas de Educación Superior. Informe Final. Facultad de Economía y Negocios. Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile.Google Scholar
Bielecki, EM, Haas, JD and Hulanicka, B (2012) Secular changes in the height of Polish schoolboys from 1955 to 1988. Economics and Human Biology 10(3), 310–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bielicki, T, Malina, RM and Waliszko, H (1992) Monitoring the dynamics of social stratification: statural variation among polish conscripts in 1976 and 1986. American Journal of Human Biology 4(3), 345–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bogin, B (2001) The Growth of Humanity. Wiley-Liss, New York.Google Scholar
Bogin, B and Varela-Silva, MI (2010) Leg length, body proportion, and health: a review with a note on beauty. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7(3), 1047–1075.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bubaš, M, Milošević, M, Delić-Brkljačić, D and Zahariev-Vukšinić, K (2012) Tracking variability: recent anthropometric data for Croatian population and comparison with other world populations. Collegium Antropologicum 36(2), 585–592.Google ScholarPubMed
Burrows, R, Ceballos, X, Burgueño, M and Muzzo, S (2010) Trends in puberal development of school age children living in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. Revista Médica de Chile 138, 61–67.Google Scholar
Castellucci, HI, Arezes, PM and Molenbroek, JFM (2015a) Analysis of the most relevant anthropometric dimensions for school furniture selection based on a study with students from one Chilean region. Applied Ergonomics 46, 201–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castellucci, HI, Arezes, PM, Molenbroek, JFM and Viviani, C (2015b) The effect of secular trends in the classroom furniture mismatch: support for continuous update of school furniture standards. Ergonomics 58(3), 524–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castellucci, HI, Catalán, M, Arezes, PM and Molenbroek, JFM (2016) Evidence for the need to update the Chilean standard for school furniture dimension specifications. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 56, 181–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chilegenomico (2015) Genomics of the Chilean Population: Genetic Characterization Necessary for Biomedical Research, Public Health, and Forensic Medicine. URL: http://chilegenomico.med.uchile.cl/chilegenomico1/ (accessed 9th April 2018).Google Scholar
Cole, TJ (2000) Secular trends in growth. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 59(02), 317–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, TJ (2003) The secular trend in human physical growth: a biological view. Economics and Human Biology 1(2), 161–168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DEIS-MINSAL (2014) Child Deaths and Mortality and their Components. Chile 1990–2014. DEIS-MINSAL, Santiago de Chile. URL: http://www.deis.cl/estadisticas-de-natalidad-y-mortalidad/Google Scholar
Espinoza Díaz, O and González Fiegehen, LE (2007) Perfil socioeconomico del estudiantado que accede a la educacion superior en Chile (1990–2003). Estudios Pedagogicos 33(2), 45–57.Google Scholar
Erikson, R and Goldthorpe, J (1993) The Constant Flux: A study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
FAOSTAT (2018) Prevalence of Undernourishment (%) (3-year average). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. URL: http://www.fao.org/faostat/es/#country/40 (accessed 9th December 2018).Google Scholar
Fernihough, A and McGovern, ME (2015) Physical stature decline and the health status of the elderly population in England. Economics and Human Biology 16, 30–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fredriks, M, van Buuren, S, Burgmeijer, RJ, Meulmeester, JF, Beuker, RJ, Brugman, Eet al. (2000) Continuing positive secular growth change in The Netherlands 1955–1997. Pediatric Research 47(3), 316–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gutiérrez, M and Apud, E (1992) Estudio Antropométrico y Criterios Ergonómicos Para La Evaluación y Diseño de Mobiliario Escolar. Cuaderno Médico Social 33(4), 72–80.Google Scholar
Gyenis, G and Joubert, K (2004) Socioeconomic determinants of anthropometric trends among Hungarian youth. Economics and Human Biology 21(2), 321–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, L, Sperling, L, Gard, G, Ipsen, S and Olivares Vergara, C (2009) Swedish anthropometrics for product and workplace design. Applied Ergonomics 40(4), 797–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hermanussen, M, Scheffler, C, Groth, D and Aßmann, C (2015) Height and skeletal morphology in relation to modern life style. Journal of Physiological Anthropology 34(1), 1–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoddinott, J and Wiesmann, D (2010) The impact of conditional cash transfer programs on food consumption. In Adato, J and Hoddinott, M (ed.) Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America: A Magic Bullet to Reduce Poverty? John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Huang, Y, Van Poppel, F and Lumey, LH (2015) Differences in height by education among 371,105 Dutch military conscripts. Economics and Human Biology 17, 202–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ISO (2008) ISO 7250-1: Basic Human Body Measurements for Technological Design – Part 1: Body Measurement Definitions and Landmarks. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Kagawa, RMC, Fernald, LCH and Behrman, JR (2016) Weight status and behavioral problems among very young Children in Chile. PLoS One 11(9), 1–15.Google Scholar
Komlos, J and Baur, M (2004) From the tallest to (one of) the fattest: the enigmatic fate of the American population in the 20th century. Economics and Human Biology 21(1), 57–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Komlos, J and Lauderdale, BE (2007) Underperformance in affluence: the remarkable relative decline in U.S. heights in the second half of the 20th century. Social Science Quarterly 88(2), 283–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magnusson, PEK, Rasmussen, F and Gyllensten, UB (2006) Height at age 18 years is a strong predictor of attained education later in life: cohort study of over 950 000 Swedish men. International Journal of Epidemiology 35(3), 658–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mair, P and Wilcox, R (2019) Robust statistical methods in R using the WRS2 package. Behavior Research Methods, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-019-01246-wCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matton, L, Duvigneaud, N, Wijndaele, K, Philippaerts, R, Duquet, W, Beunen, Get al. (2007) Secular trends in anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness, physical activity, and biological maturation in Flemish adolescents between 1969 and 2005. American Journal of Human Biology 19(3), 345–357.Google Scholar
Meyer, H and Selmer, R (1999) Income, educational level and body height. Annals of Human Biology 26(3), 219–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MIDEPLAN (2013) Informe de Desarrollo Social. Ministerio de Planificación. Gobierno de Chile, Santiago de Chile.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministerio de Desarollo Social (2016) CASEN 2015. Ministerio de Desarollo Social. Gobierno de Chile. Santiago de Chile.Google Scholar
Muzzo, S, Burrows, R and Cordero, JRI (2004) Trends in nutritional status and stature among school-age children in Chile. Nutrition 29(10), 867–872.Google Scholar
Núñez, J and Pérez, G (2015) Trends in physical stature across socioeconomic groups of Chilean boys, 1880–1997. Economics and Human Biology 16, 100–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (2004) Revisión de Políticas Nacionales de la Educación Chilena. URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
OECD (2009) Reviews of National Policies for Education Tertiary Education in Chile. OECD, Paris. URL: http://www.colombiaaprende.edu.co/html/investigadores/1609/articles-73081_archivo.pdfCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portney, L and Watkins, M (2008) Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice, 3rd Edition. Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Prince, MJ, Acosta, D, Guerra, M, Huang, Y, Jimenez, IZ, Rodriguez, JJLet al. (2018) Leg length, skull circumference, and the incidence of dementia in Latin America and China: a 10 66 population-based cohort study. PLoS One 80, 1–14.Google Scholar
Rojas, N and Silva, C (2016) La Migración en Chile: Breve reporte y caracterización. Obimid, Madrid. URL: http://www.extranjeria.gob.cl/media/2016/08/informe_julio_agosto_2016.pdf (accessed December 2018).Google Scholar
Rolando, R, Salamanca, J and Rubilar, I (2010) Evolución de Titulación en Educación Superior de Chile Periodo 1999–2008. Sistema Nacional de Información de la Educación Superior (SIES) de la División de Educación Superior del Ministerio de Educación. Gobierno de Chile. Santiago de Chile.Google Scholar
Schwekendiek, D and Jun, S (2010) From the poorest to the tallest in East Asia: the secular trend in height of South Koreans. Korea Journal 50(3), 151–175.Google Scholar
Selita, F and Kovas, Y (2019) Genes and Gini: what inequality means for heritability. Journal of Biosocial Science 51, 18–47.Google Scholar
Shiely, F, Hayes, K, Perry, IJ and Kelleher, CC (2013) Height and weight bias: the influence of time. PLoS One 8(1), 2005–2008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sicotte, M, Ledoux, M, Zunzunegui, MV, Ag Aboubacrine, S and Nguyen, VK (2010) Reliability of anthropometric measures in a longitudinal cohort of patients initiating ART in West Africa. BMC Medical Research Methodology 10(1), 102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silventoinen, K (2003) Determinants of variation in adult body height. Journal of Biosocial Science 35, 263–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh-Manoux, A, Gourmelen, J, Ferrie, J, Silventoinen, K, Guéguen, A, Stringhini, Set al. (2010) Trends in the association between height and socioeconomic indicators in France, 1970–2003. Economics and Human Biology 8(3), 396–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Som, S, Ulijaszek, S, Pal, M, Bharati, S and Bharati, P (2014) Variation in height and BMI of adult indians. Journal of Biosocial Science 46(1), 47–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorkin, JD, Muller, DC and Andres, R (1999) Longitudinal change in height of men and women: implications for interpretation of the body mass index. American Journal of Epidemiology 150(9), 969–977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, R, Hardy, R and Richards, M (2015) Associations between skeletal growth in childhood and cognitive function in mid-life in a 53-year prospective birth cohort study. PLoS One 10(4), 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanner, J (1986) Growth as a mirror of the condition of society: secular trends and class distinctions. In Demirjian, A (ed.) Human Growth: A Multidisciplinary Review. Taylor and Francis, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, J (1992) Growth as a measure of the nutritional and hygienic status of a population. Hormone Research 38(1), 106–115.Google Scholar
Tanner, JM, Hayashi, T, Preece, MA and Cameron, N (1982) Increase in length of leg relative to trunk in Japanese children and adults from 1957 to 1977: comparison with British and with Japanese Americans. Annals of Human Biology 9, 411–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tillmann, V and Clayton, PE (2001) Diurnal variation in height and the reliability of height measurements using stretched and unstretched techniques in the evaluation of short-term growth. Annals of Human Biology 28(2), 195–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomkinson, GR, Daniell, N, Fulton, A and Furnell, A (2017) Time changes in the body dimensions of male Australian Army personnel between 1977 and 2012. Applied Ergonomics 58, 18–24.Google ScholarPubMed
Ulijaszek, SJ and Kerr, DA (1999) Anthropometric measurement error and the assessment of nutritional status. British Journal of Nutrition 44, 165–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valenzuela, C and Avendaño, A (1979) Antropometría y maduración Sexual en Escolares de un Area de Santiago de Chile. Boletín de la Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana 87(2), 113–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vázquez-Vázquez, A, Azcorra, H, Falfán, INA and Dickinson, F (2013) Variation in height and knee height in adolescents in Merida, Mexico, by head of household employment level and family income. Journal of Biosocial Science 45(3), 391–403.Google Scholar
World Bank (2018) World Bank Open Data – Chile GDP (Current $USD). URL: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CL&view=chart (accessed 25th December 2018).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed