The height of women in Sub-Saharan Africa: the role of health, nutrition, and income in childhood.
BACKGROUND
Adult height in individuals has been linked to health and nutrition in childhood, and to health outcomes in later life. Economists have used average adult height as an indicator of the biological standard of living and as a measure of health human capital. However, it is unclear to what extent childhood health and nutrition are reflected in adult height at the population level.


OBJECTIVE
The study examined the proximate determinants of population adult height for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.


METHODS
A database was created of adult female height for 24 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for birth cohorts born between 1945 and 1985. The present study examined the effect of infant mortality rate, GDP per capita, and average protein and calorie consumption on cohort adult height.


RESULTS
Most of the variation in height across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is due to fixed effects; however, it was found that variations in cohort height over time are sensitive to changes in infant mortality rate, GDP per capita, and protein intake, both at birth and in adolescence.


CONCLUSIONS
Changes in cohort adult height over time in Sub-Saharan Africa are related to changes childhood health and nutrition, although variation across countries appears to be determined mainly by unexplained fixed factors.
Akachi
Yoko
Y
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. yoko_akachi@post.harvard.edu
Canning
David
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004467:Economics; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors