Scientists at the University of Exeter have found the most robust evidence yet that simply being a shorter man or a more overweight woman leads to poorer chances in life, including a poorer income.
It has long been known that there is a link between height and weight and how well off a person is, in terms of socioeconomic factors including earnings, postcode, level of education and job type. People from poorer backgrounds are less likely to grow tall and more likely to put on weight, in part because of a poorer education and nutrition in childhood and early adulthood. Now, in research led by the University of Exeter and published in the BMJ, scientists have used genetics to show that shorter height in men or higher body mass index (a measure of weight for a given height) in women leads to reduced chances in life, including income.
Using data from 120,000 participants in the UK Biobank (aged between 40 and 70) for whom genetic information was available, the team studied 400 genetic variants that are associated with height, and 70 associated with body mass index. They used these genetic variants, together with actual height and weight, to ask whether or not shorter stature or higher BMI could lead to poorer chances in life – as measured by information the participants provided about their lives.
Their findings were stark – if a man was 3” (7.5cm) shorter for no other reason than his genetics, this would lead to him having an income £1,500 per year less than his taller counterpart. If a woman was a stone heavier (6.3kg) for no other reason than her genetics, this would lead to her having an income £1,500 less per year than a comparable woman of the same height who was a stone lighter.
The study was supported by the Diabetes and Wellness Foundation and the European Research Council through the project "GLUCOSEGENES - The causes of hyperglycaemia in the face of rising obesity”. The paper “Shorter stature and higher BMI lower socioeconomic status:
a Mendelian randomisation study in the UK Biobank” is published online in the BMJ on Tuesday March 1, by: Jess Tyrrell, Samuel Jones, Robin Beaumont, Rebecca Lovell, Hanieh Yaghootkar, Marcus Tuke, Katherine Ruth, Rachel Freathy, Andrew Wood, Anna Murray, Michael Weedon and Tim Frayling, all of the University of Exeter Medical School; Christina Astley, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; and Joel Hirschhorn, Children's Hospital Boston.
