title: The effect of neighboring districts on body height of Polish conscripts.
abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation of heights of conscripts living in neighboring districts in Poland. The study used 10% of a nationally representative sample of 26,178 males 18.5-19.5 years old examined during the National survey of Polish conscripts conducted in 2001. The sample represented all regions and social strata of the country and included 354 different districts within 16 voivodships (provinces). Analyses were performed with the R statistical software. A small but significant correlation (0.24,p< 0.0001) was observed for height between 1storder neighboring districts. Correlations decreased with increased distances between neighboring districts, but remained significant for 7thnode neighbors (0.18,p< 0.0001). Regarding voivodships (provinces), average height showed a geographical trend from the northwest (relatively tall) to the southeast (relatively short), and the correlation was stronger for first order neighboring provinces (0.796,p< 0.001). This study revealed clusters of tall people and short people, providing a support for hypothesis of the community effect in height. Small correlations between 1storder neighbors than in another country (Switzerland) may be associated with differences in geography, since in Poland there are no natural barriers (e.g., mountains) and road infrastructure is well-developed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Podwale 75, 50-449 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gomula
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Podwale 75, 50-449 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Slawomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koziel
authors.affiliation: University of Potsdam, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.affiliation: Professor Emeritus, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bielicki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult