Longitudinal Change in the Heights of Men and Women: Consequential Eftects on Body Mass Index

Body size is a basic biologic characteristic. It enters into evaluation of health status, disease, and malnutrition, as well as consideration of drug dosage and recommendations for healthy body weight. Height (or stature) is, in a sense, the primary estimate of size; it is a determinant of body mass index (most commonly computed as weight/height) and is a component in the equations used to compute body surface area. Body mass index and body surface area are, in turn, used as reference bases for interpreting physiologic and clinical tests such as tests of pulmonary and renal function. The rate of increase in height from birth to early adult life has been well studied, and it is recognized to be an essential index of the developmental phase of life. The rate of decrease in height at the end of growth and development has been less thoroughly studied. Indeed, to our knowledge there has been no comprehensive attempt to summarize the literature that is available. However, in recent years there has been increasing interest in the need for age-specific body weight recommendations (1) and in the role of osteoporosis in height loss with aging, making a review of height change timely. Aside from the purely intellectual interest in the rate at which height changes with aging, the question has practical implications. A number of studies suggest that the body mass index associated with minimal mortality increases with age. In order to determine whether the increase in body mass index-associated minimal mortality is an artifact of loss of height with aging, it is necessary to know the magnitude of the artifact. We use the data summarized in this review to quantify the effect of height loss on body mass index indepen-