title: Blood group and height in a multiethnic population.
abstract: In a sample of 4,472 boys, aged 17-18 years, resident in Jerusalem, those with blood groups B or AB tended to be slightly shorter than groups O and A (p = 0.011). Participants were classified into 8 groups according to father's country of origin: Israel, Southern Europe/Balkans, rest of Europe, North Africa, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and the rest of Asia. The association of ABO blood group, classified according to the presence of the B antigen (groups B and AB) or its absence (O and A), with height differed in the 8 origin groups (p = 0.026 for interaction). In 7 of the 8 groups, subjects with the B allele were either shorter or of equal height to groups O and A and in only one instance were they taller. These findings do not support the generalizability of a positive association of the presence of the B antigen with height suggested by Borecki et al. [1985].
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000352:Africa, Northern / Q000208:ethnology; D000483:Alleles; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001827:Body Height; D005006:Ethnicity; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000208:ethnology; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D015006:Yemen / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System