Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies reported that stature is inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, there is limited evidence on the association between height and lipid profiles. We aimed to examine the association of height with total cholesterol and hypercholesterolemia based on the nationally representative dataset of Korean adults.MethodsThe data of 13,701 adults aged ≥19 years who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2015) were used in this nationwide population-based cross-sectional study. Hypercholesterolemia was defined as a serum total cholesterol level ≥ 240 mg/dL or use of lipid-lowering medications. Multivariable linear regression and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association of height with mean total cholesterol level and odds ratios (ORs) of hypercholesterolemia.ResultsApproximately 17% of participants had hypercholesterolemia. Mean total cholesterol levels decreased in the higher quartile (Q) groups of height after adjusting for confounding variables including age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, income, educational level, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus (P for trend = 0.035). After adjusting for these potential confounding variables, the adjusted ORs of hypercholesterolemia were significantly lower in the Q3 and Q4 groups than in the Q1 group; ORs decreased in the higher quartile groups of height (OR: 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.71–0.99 in Q3; 0.81, 0.69–0.95 in Q4, P for trend = 0.007). The association between height (Q4 vs. Q1–Q3) and hypercholesterolemia was stronger in men or individuals without hypertension or diabetes than in women or individuals with such diseases.ConclusionsHeight is inversely associated with total cholesterol level and odds of hypercholesterolemia among Korean adults. Childhood environment related to short stature may be associated with hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular health in adulthood.
Highlights
Previous studies reported that stature is inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular disease
We found that height is inversely related to total cholesterol level and hypercholesterolemia, independent of other classical cardiovascular risk factors in Korean adults
Our findings suggest that short stature may be an associated factor of increased total cholesterol level in adults
Summary
Previous studies reported that stature is inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Elevated total cholesterol level has been recognized as one of most important risk factors for CVD. Several previous epidemiologic studies have reported an inverse association between height and CVDs such as coronary heart disease and stroke [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Poor nutritional status during childhood, which results in suboptimal growth, may be associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease in later life [19, 20]. These findings enabled us to hypothesize that abnormal lipid profile, as a major risk factor of CVD, may be associated with short stature. We aimed to examine the association of height with total cholesterol levels and hypercholesterolemia based on the nationwide population-based dataset of South Korean adults
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