Heritability of Adult Body Height: A Comparative Study of Twin Cohorts in Eight Countries

A major component of variation in body height is due to genetic differences, but environmental factors have a substantial contributory effect. In this study we aimed to analyse whether the genetic architecture of body height varies between affluent western societies. We analysed twin data from eight countries comprising 30,111 complete twin pairs by using the univariate genetic model of the Mx statistical package. Body height and zygosity were self-reported in seven populations and measured directly in one population. We found that there was substantial variation in mean body height between countries; body height was least in Italy (177 cm in men and 163 cm in women) and greatest in the Netherlands (184 cm and…

• A
  AstraZeneca
• EH
  EkstraStiftelsen Helse og Rehabilitering (Stiftelsen Dam)
• YJ
  Yrjö Jahnssonin Säätiö
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• CD
  Chronic Disease Research Foundation
• BH
  British Heart Foundation
• EC
  European Commission

  Award: 01254
• AO
  Academy of Finland

  Award: 44069
• NF
  Norges Forskningsråd
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• MR
  Medical Research Council
• NH
  National Health and Medical Research Council
• NI
  Norwegian Institute of Public Health
• NI
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

  Award: AA 00145