Stunting is the natural condition of human height

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19458796
AutoresChristiane Scheffler (0000-0003-1954-7578, Department of Human Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany, autor correspondente), Michael Hermanussen (0000-0003-4037-1597, Pediatrician Altenhof Germany)
Ano2022
Volume34
Fascículo5
Páginase23693-e23693
Data de publicação2022-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Human Biology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1042-0533 • E-ISSN: 1520-6300
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajhb.23693
PMID34761833
OpenAlexW3212477066
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas11
Referências citadas51

OBJECTIVES: Human body height differs within a wide range and has conventionally been associated with genetic, nutritional, and environmental conditions. In this study, we try to broaden this perspective and add the evolutionary aspect of height differences. SAMPLE AND METHOD: We revisited height from archeological data (10 000-1000 BC), and historical growth studies (1877-1913). We analyzed height, weight, and skinfold thickness of 1666 Indonesian schoolchildren from six representative rural and urban elementary schools in Bali and West Timor with a stunting prevalence of up to 50%. RESULTS: Stature in the Holocene prehistory of the Near East and Europe varied with maxima for women usually ranging below 160 cm, and maxima for men between 165 and 170 cm. Stature never rose above 170 cm. European and white US-American schoolchildren of the 19th and 20th century were generally short with average height ranging between -1.5 and -2.2 hSDS, yet in the absence of any evidence of chronic or recurrent undernutrition or frequent illness, poverty, or disadvantageous living conditions. The same is found in contemporary Indonesian schoolchildren. CONCLUSION: Stunting is frequently observed not only in the poor, but also in affluent and well-nourished social strata last 10 000 years. Only in very recent history, and only in a few democratic, modern societies, stature has increased beyond the long-lasting historic height average. Viewed from an evolutionary perspective, and considering adaptive plasticity of and community effects on growth, competitive growth and strategic growth adjustments, stunting appears to be the natural condition of human height

Archaeology · Biology · Economic growth · Geography · Indonesian · Malnutrition · Natural history · Poverty · Prehistory · Sociology · Birth, Development, and Health · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Demography · Medicine · Sodium Intake and Health · Ecology