title: Anthropometric measurements by ethnicity in Colombia, 1965-1990.
abstract: We analyzed the evolution of height in Colombia of cohorts born in the period 1965-1990 by ethnic groups. We found that Afro-Colombian men and women were the tallest: 6cm taller than indigenous people and 2cm taller than the rest of the population. We also found that the height gap between Afro-Colombians and others decreased during the period under study by 0.7cm for both men and women. While improvements were noticeable among the Afro-Colombians and those who chose not to be classified by ethnicity, in the case of the indigenous population only female cohorts registered an average-height increase of 1.5cm. Moreover, we found that indigenous Colombians were more likely than other ethnic groups to experience an increase in biological well-being as a consequence of an improvement in their socio-economic status, thereby reducing the average-stature gap between them and the rest of the population by 2.1 and 3.6cm for men and women, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Banco de la República de Colombia (Central Bank of Colombia), Centro de Estudios Económicos Regionales CEER, Calle 33 #3-123, Cartagena, Colombia. Electronic address: kacostor@banrep.gov.co.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meisel
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001827:Body Height / Q000208:ethnology*; D003105:Colombia; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: Anthropometry; Biological well-being; Colombia; Ethnicity; I12; I14; N36; Z13