{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T18:40:32Z","timestamp":1776105632911,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"10","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007601","name":"Horizon 2020","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007601","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Epidemiol Community Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,7]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Height is regarded as a marker of early-life illness, adversity, nutrition and psychosocial stress, but the extent to which differences in height are determined by early-life socioeconomic circumstances, particularly in contemporary populations, is unclear. This study examined socioeconomic differences in children\u2019s height trajectories from birth through to 21 years of age in four European countries.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Data were from six prospective cohort studies\u2014Generation XXI, Growing Up in Ireland (infant and child cohorts), Millennium Cohort Study, EPITeen and Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study\u2014comprising a total of 49\u2009492 children with growth measured repeatedly from 1980 to 2014. We modelled differences in children\u2019s growth trajectories over time by maternal educational level using hierarchical models with fixed and random components for each cohort study.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Across most cohorts at practically all ages, children from lower educated mothers were shorter on average. The gradient in height was consistently observed at 3 years of age with the difference in expected height between maternal education groups ranging between \u22120.55 and \u22121.53\u2009cm for boys and \u22120.42 to \u22121.50\u2009cm for girls across the different studies and widening across childhood. The height deficit persists into adolescence and early adulthood. By age 21, boys from primary educated maternal backgrounds lag the tertiary educated by \u22120.67\u2009cm (Portugal) and \u22122.15\u2009cm (Finland). The comparable figures for girls were \u22122.49\u2009cm (Portugal) and \u22122.93\u2009cm (Finland).<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Significant differences in children\u2019s height by maternal education persist in modern child populations in Europe.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2016-208556","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,10]],"date-time":"2017-08-10T20:50:18Z","timestamp":1502398218000},"page":"981-989","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["Socioeconomic differences in children\u2019s growth trajectories from infancy to early adulthood: evidence from four European countries"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"71","author":[{"given":"Cathal","family":"McCrory","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland"}]},{"given":"Neil","family":"O\u2019Leary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Fraga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of EPIUNIT, Institute of Public Health University of Porto, Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Isabel","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of EPIUNIT, Institute of Public Health University of Porto, Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Henrique","family":"Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of EPIUNIT, Institute of Public Health University of Porto, Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Noora","family":"Kartiosuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC), University of Turku, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Olli","family":"Raitakari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC), University of Turku, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"given":"Mika","family":"Kivim\u00e4ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Vineis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRCPHE Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Layte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0029665100000355"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1442-200X.1987.tb00015.x"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.3","unstructured":"Prevention CfDCa. Clinical growth charts, 2000. http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/growthcharts\/clinical_charts.htm"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ehb.2009.09.005"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oep\/gpt030"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1651-2227.1997.tb18364.x","article-title":"Secular changes in growth and maturation: an update","volume":"423","author":"Hauspie","year":"1997","journal-title":"Acta Paediatr Suppl"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3945\/jn.110.121293"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1010539509337253"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2010.113068"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/80.1.185","article-title":"Early environment and child-to-adult growth trajectories in the 1958 british birth cohort","volume":"80","author":"Li","year":"2004","journal-title":"Am J Clin Nutr"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyh325"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"488","DOI":"10.3109\/03014460.2014.885081","article-title":"Associations between household income, height and BMI in Contemporary US children: infancy through Early childhood","volume":"41","author":"Murasko","year":"2014","journal-title":"Ann Hum Biol"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0037356","article-title":"Children of low socioeconomic status show accelerated linear growth in early childhood; results from the generation R study","volume":"7","author":"Silva","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/20.4.1001"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.15","first-page":"136","article-title":"Social-biological transitions: how does the social become biological?","volume":"4","author":"Blane","year":"2013","journal-title":"Longitudinal and Life Course Studies"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780198578154.003.0010","article-title":"A life course approach to respiratory and allergic diseases","volume":"2","author":"Strachan","year":"2004","journal-title":"A life course approach to chronic disease epidemiology"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-3016.2011.01251.x"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2458-14-932","article-title":"Socioeconomic differences in childhood length\/height trajectories in a middle-income country: a cohort study","volume":"14","author":"Patel","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2015-205603"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2013-003985","article-title":"Socioeconomic variations in female fertility impairment: a study in a cohort of portuguese mothers","volume":"4","author":"Correia","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10995-012-1182-9"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1277","DOI":"10.1007\/s10802-012-9640-9","article-title":"Prenatal exposure to maternal smoking and childhood behavioural problems: a quasi-experimental approach","volume":"40","author":"McCrory","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Abnorm Child Psychol"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1651-2227.2007.00107.x"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dym225"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyu001"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2004.023531"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-3016.2000.00266.x"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1136\/ewjm.176.3.209","article-title":"The conundrum of height and mortality","volume":"176","author":"Smith","year":"2002","journal-title":"West J Med"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.54.2.97"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ajhb.10183"},{"key":"2025100302332082000_71.10.981.31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0029118","article-title":"Social inequalities in height: persisting differences today depend upon height of the parents","volume":"7","author":"Galobardes","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"}],"container-title":["Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jech-2016-208556","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,3]],"date-time":"2025-10-03T09:33:32Z","timestamp":1759484012000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jech.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jech-2016-208556"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,10]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,9,7]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jech-2016-208556"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jech-2016-208556","relation":{},"ISSN":["0143-005X","1470-2738"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0143-005X","type":"print"},{"value":"1470-2738","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,10]]}}}