title: Growth as a measure of the nutritional and hygienic status of a population.
abstract: The history of the use of children's growth as a measure of the nutrition and hygiene of a population since the early 19th century is outlined. Secular trends towards greater height and earlier maturity are reported; the increase in adult height in British men born between 1900 and 1946 averaged about 1.25 cm/decade and in those born between 1946 and 1960 0.6 cm/decade, according to the data of Kuh et al. [Int J Epidemiol 1991;20:1001-1009]. Social class differences in height persist in the UK, amounting to almost 2 cm between the well off and the unskilled. The average height of subgroups of most populations serves well as a proxy for their health status and relates to their mortality rate.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Health, University of London, UK.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tanner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000266:history; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011153:Population; D011627:Puberty; D012923:Social Class