Height and skeletal morphology in relation to modern life style

Michael Hermanussen,Christian Aßmann,Christiane Scheffler,Detlef Groth

doi:10.1186/s40101-015-0080-4

Abstract

Height and skeletal morphology strongly relate to life style. Parallel to the decrease in physical activity and locomotion, modern people are slimmer in skeletal proportions. In German children and adolescents, elbow breadth and particularly relative pelvic breadth (50th centile of bicristal distance divided by body height) have significantly decreased in recent years. Even more evident than the changes in pelvic morphology are the rapid changes in body height in most modern countries since the end-19th and particularly since the mid-20th century. Modern Japanese mature earlier; the age at take-off (ATO, the age at which the adolescent growth spurt starts) decreases, and they are taller at all ages. Preece-Baines modelling of six national samples of Japanese children and adolescents, surveyed between 1955 and 2000, shows that this gain in height is largely an adolescent trend, whereas height at take-off (HTO) increased by less than 3 cm since 1955; adolescent growth (height gain between ATO and adult age) increased by 6 cm. The effect of globalization on the modern post-war Japanese society (“community effect in height”) on adolescent growth is discussed.

Highlights

We are used to long-term evolutionary changes in height and skeletal morphology, but significant changes occur within a few decades and strongly relate to modern life style
Most modern people are physically inactive; they connect with friends and relatives virtually via electronic media; they drive cars, use elevators, chauffeur their children to kindergartens and schools, and distances of up to 30 km per day, as our ancestors did, are no longer walked by modern children and adolescents
Even more evident than the changes in pelvic morphology are the rapid changes in body height in most modern countries since the end-19th and since the mid-20th century

Summary

Introduction

Background We are used to long-term evolutionary changes in height and skeletal morphology, but significant changes occur within a few decades and strongly relate to modern life style. Even more evident than the changes in pelvic morphology are the rapid changes in body height in most modern countries since the end-19th and since the mid-20th century. The data suggest that adult height rather reflects living conditions during adolescence than the situation during infancy and early childhood.

Results

Conclusion