Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36696372›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Time trends in body height according to educational level. A descriptive study from the Tromsø Study 1979-2016.

Sondre Haakonson Arntsen, Kristin Benjaminsen Borch, Tom Wilsgaard, Inger Njølstad, Anne Helen Hansen

Abstract read
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Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Political Liberation, Hope, and Social Competition Are the Motor of Secular Trends in Height.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sondre Haakonson ArntsenDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-9136-7307
Kristin Benjaminsen BorchDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Tom WilsgaardDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Inger NjølstadDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Anne Helen HansenDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe objective of our study was to describe time trends in body height according to attained educational level in women and men in Norway.

methodsWe used previously collected data from six repeated cross-sectional studies in the population based Tromsø Study 1979-2016. Measured body height in cm and self-reported educational level were the primary outcome measures. We included 31 466 women and men aged 30-49 years, born between 1930 and 1977. Participants were stratified by 10-year birth cohorts and allocated into four groups based on attained levels of education. Descriptive statistics was used to estimate mean body height and calculate height differences between groups with different educational levels.

resultsMean body height increased by 3.4 cm (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.0, 3.8) in women (162.5-165.9 cm) and men (175.9-179.3 cm) between 1930 and 1977. The height difference between groups with primary education compared to long tertiary education was 5.1 cm (95% CI 3.7, 6.5) in women (161.6-166.7 cm) and 4.3 cm (95% CI 3.3, 5.3) in men (175.0-179.3 cm) born in 1930-39. The height differences between these educational groups were reduced to 3.0 cm (95% CI 1.9, 4.1) in women (163.6-166.6 cm) and 2.0 cm (95% CI 0.9, 3.1) in men (178.3-180.3 cm) born in 1970-77.

conclusionsBody height increased in women and men. Women and men with long tertiary education had the highest mean body height, which remained stable across all birth cohorts. Women and men in the three other groups had a gradual increase in height by birth cohort, reducing overall height differences between educational groups in our study population.

Indexed as

Body HeightAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesCross-Sectional StudiesEducational StatusFemaleHumansMaleSelf Report

Identifiers

PMID36696372
PMCPMC9876240

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.