title: Genetic and environmental influences on adult human height across birth cohorts from 1886 to 1994.
abstract: Human height variation is determined by genetic and environmental factors, but it remains unclear whether their influences differ across birth-year cohorts. We conducted an individual-based pooled analysis of 40 twin cohorts including 143,390 complete twin pairs born 1886-1994. Although genetic variance showed a generally increasing trend across the birth-year cohorts, heritability estimates (0.69-0.84 in men and 0.53-0.78 in women) did not present any clear pattern of secular changes. Comparing geographic-cultural regions (Europe, North America and Australia, and East Asia), total height variance was greatest in North America and Australia and lowest in East Asia, but no clear pattern in the heritability estimates across the birth-year cohorts emerged. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that heritability of height is lower in populations with low living standards than in affluent populations, nor that heritability of height will increase within a population as living standards improve.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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authors.forename: Fruhling
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authors.forename: Qihua
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authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Dongfeng
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authors.forename: Zengchang
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authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Sari
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authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kauko
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authors.affiliation: Faculty of Business, Karabuk University, Karabuk, Turkey.|Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, United States.|Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, United States.
authors.forename: Fazil
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authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Oncotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.|Hungarian Twin Registry, Budapest, Hungary.
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authors.forename: Kaare
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authors.affiliation: The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.|Department of Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Axel
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authors.forename: Kirsten O
authors.initials: KO
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authors.forename: Judy L
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authors.initials: HH
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authors.initials: KE
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authors.initials: CA
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authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Healthy Twin Association of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College, London, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States.
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authors.initials: SA
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authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States.
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authors.initials: KL
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authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
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authors.initials: JR
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authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ingunn
authors.initials: I
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authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
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authors.initials: TS
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authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
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authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
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authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Corley
authors.affiliation: The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.|Department of Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jacob V B
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Hjelmborg
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, United States.
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authors.affiliation: Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
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authors.affiliation: Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikio
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authors.affiliation: Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Chika
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.|Faculty of Health Science, Kio University, Nara, Japan.
authors.forename: Fujio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Finn
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, United States.
authors.forename: Brooke M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Huibregtse
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dorret I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Boomsma
authors.affiliation: Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research (Section on Metabolic Genetics), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.|Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.|Institute of Preventive Medicine, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospitals, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thorkild I A
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaprio
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Karri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Silventoinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001827:Body Height / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014427:Twins; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: CODATwins project; birth cohorts; height; heritability; human; human biology; medicine; twins