tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post2161425228752522172..comments2024-01-04T04:11:55.717+02:00Comments on Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog: Stature/body mass index and socioeconomic statusDienekeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02082684850093948970noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-21530248387154886842016-03-16T22:16:38.331+02:002016-03-16T22:16:38.331+02:00BMI will tend to be higher at lower heights, so lo...BMI will tend to be higher at lower heights, so long as there is no strong covariation between body mass and height, simply because BMI = mass / height (so if mass stays the same, while height increases or decreases, BMI and height will negatively correlate). <br /><br />That might weaken the BMI causal pathway, opposed to the height pathway. BMI's probably more meaningful if you look within a height class (a population of men / women with exactly the same height, which is doable with a large sample size). Do larger and more robust men and women, of the same height, tend to have worse outcomes?<br /><br />There's also your question of linearity - is mass important or central obesity, as measured (slightly messily) by being above a certain high BMI threshold or by direct waist circumference/height measures (ideally adjusted for lean mass)? Would we actually find that small differences in the overweight-normal weight categories matter, or that stronger effects kick in at conditions of obesity (effectively curvilinear).<br /><br />There was a recent paper on European heights which found that BMI and height showed a negative genetic correlation. Not so surprising if mass increasing variants didn't increase along with height, as we might expect genetic body mass to be constrained to about the same level between different European populations who received similar levels of nutrition, over the long average. The genetic BMI-height scaling worked out to Europeans all having about the same "genetic body mass".Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04517454865405705885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-15472556521013627712016-03-12T00:39:29.364+02:002016-03-12T00:39:29.364+02:00Maybe their (implied) conclusion is backwards. Ma...Maybe their (implied) conclusion is backwards. Maybe other attributes that contribute to higher socioeconomic status are associated with greater height and lower BMI.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-61546069514340613792016-03-10T03:50:57.600+02:002016-03-10T03:50:57.600+02:00I remember reading about a 19th century study that...I remember reading about a 19th century study that found the height of UK criminals was much shorter than the average, which may or may not have been the result of the effect of poor nutrition.<br />As for socio economic status that's often linked to IQ and education of course. I would guess anyone who would willingly eat something like fried mars bars might have a BMI problem and is probably not that far on the right hand side of the IQ curve to begin with. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16252036184505404113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-49713666431585554742016-03-10T03:24:28.482+02:002016-03-10T03:24:28.482+02:00"overweight people, especially women, are at ..."overweight people, especially women, are at a disadvantage and that taller people, especially men, are at an advantage"<br /><br />Interesting phrasing. I wonder why the chose it over something like: "overweight people, especially women, are at a disadvantage just like shorter people are, especially men."<br /><br />What many people are going to take away from this is that men are at an advantage compared to women because of their height.<br /><br />Are there any more details concerning the two effects on the two sexes? <br />Kostashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02273878568006862059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-82730579018547886092016-03-09T22:55:03.571+02:002016-03-09T22:55:03.571+02:00Makes perfect sense. As much as in the modern worl...Makes perfect sense. As much as in the modern world brains matter, people(employers, consumers, etc) still care a lot about looks(mostly in women) and strength(mostly in men). Krefterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055804913528477710noreply@blogger.com