Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:13:36.636Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MONTH OF BIRTH, SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND HEIGHT IN RURAL CHINESE MEN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2011

WEIGUO ZHANG
WEIGUO ZHANG
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This study examines the effects of birth month and socioeconomic factors on height in rural Chinese men. The analysis of sample data of 833 adult men, 18–52 years of age, collected from 600 families in rural Hebei in 2005, shows that adult men born in winter months (November to January) are, on average, 1.04 cm shorter (p<0.01) than those born during the rest of the year. In addition to the conventional OLS regression models, the household fixed and random effects models also indicate that the month-of-birth effect exists when socioeconomic variables are controlled for. The birth-month effect on height is, however, smaller than effects of socioeconomic variables, including the household registration status, household economy and father's class status.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 43 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 641 - 656
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alter, G. (2004) Height, frailty, and the standard of living: modeling the effects of diet and disease on declining mortality and increasing height. Population Studies 58, 265–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderton, D. L. & Barrett, R. E. (1990) Demographic seasonality and development: the effects of agricultural colonialism in Taiwan, 1906–1942. Demography 27, 397–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ashton, B., Kenneth, H., Piazza, A. & Zeitz, R. (1984) Famine in China, 1958–61. Population and Development Review 10, 613–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banegas, J. R., Rodriguez-Artalejo, F., Graciani, A., De La Cruz, J. J. & Gutierrez-Fisac, J. L. (2001) Month of birth and height of Spanish middle-aged men. Annals of Human Biology 28, 15–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Barrett, R. E. (1990) Seasonality and vital processes in a traditional Chinese population: births, deaths, and marriages in colonial Taiwan, 1906–1942. Modern China 16, 190–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beigel, H. G. (1954) Body height in mate selection. Journal of Social Psychology 39, 357–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bielicki, T. & Charzewski, J. (1983) Body height and upward social mobility. Annals of Human Biology 10, 403–408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bielicki, T. & Waliszko, H. (1992) Stature, upward social mobility and the nature of statural differences between social classes. Annals of Human Biology 19, 589–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breitinger, F. E. (1972) Body height and month of birth. In Töro, I., Szabady, E., Nemeskeri, J. & Eiben, O. G. (eds) Advances in the Biology of Human Populations. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, pp. 139–148.Google Scholar
Cai, Y. & Wang, F. (2005) Famine, social disruption and miscarriage: evidence from Chinese survey data. Demography 42, 301–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cancho-Candela, R., Andres-De Llano, J. M. & Ardura-Fernandez, J. (2007) Decline and loss of birth seasonality in Spain: analysis of 33 421 731 births over 60 years. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61, 713–718.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Case, A. & Paxson, C. (2008) Stature and status: height, ability, and labor market outcomes. Journal of Political Economy 116, 499.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, Y. & Zhou, L-A. (2007) The long-term health and economic consequences of the 1959–1961 famine in China. Journal of Health Economics 26, 659–681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, T. J. & Selden, M. (1994) The origins and social-consequences of China Hukou system. The China Quarterly 139, 644–668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crook, I. & Crook, D. (1979) Ten Mile Inn: Mass Movement in a Chinese Village, 1st edn. Pantheon Books, New York.Google Scholar
Dahl, A. K., Hassing, L. B., Fransson, E. I. & Pedersen, N. L. (2010) Agreement between self-reported and measured height, weight and body mass index in old age – a longitudinal study with 20 years of follow-up. Age and Ageing 39, 445–451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dikötter, F. (2010) Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962. Walker & Co, New York.Google Scholar
Eveleth, P. B. & Tanner, J. M. (1990) Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.Google Scholar
Goodkind, D. M. (1991) Creating new traditions in modern Chinese populations: aiming for birth in the Year of the Dragon. Population and Development Review 17, 663–686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gørgens, T., Meng, X. & Vaithianathan, R. (2007) Stunting and Selection Effects of Famine: A Case Study of the Great Chinese Famine. IZA Discussion Paper No. 2543.Google Scholar
Henneberg, M. & Louw, G. J. (1990) Height and weight differences among South African urban schoolchildren born in various months of the year. American Journal of Human Biology 2, 227–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henneberg, M. & Louw, G. J. (1993) Further studies on the month-of-birth effect on body size: rural schoolchildren and an animal model. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 91, 235–244.Google ScholarPubMed
Himes, J. H. & Roche, A. F. (1982) Reported versus measured adult statures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 58, 335–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, Y-C. & Malina, R. M. (1995) Secular changes in the stature and weight of Taiwanese children, 1964–1988. American Journal of Human Biology 7, 485–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hulanicka, B. & Kotlarz, K. (1983) The final phase of growth in height. Annals of Human Biology 10, 429–433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huntington, E. (1938) Season of Birth: Its Relation to Human Abilities. J. Wiley, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judge, T. A. & Cable, D. M. (2004) The effect of physical height on workplace success and income: preliminary test of a theoretical model. Journal of Applied Psychology 89, 428–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kihlbom, M. & Johansson, S. E. (2004) Month of birth, socioeconomic background and development in Swedish men. Journal of Biosocial Science 36, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kościński, K., Kozłowska-Rajewicz, A., Górecki, M. T., Kamyczek, M. & Różycki, M. (2009) Month-of-birth effect on further body size in a pig model. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology 60, 159–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kościński, K., Krenz-Niedbala, M. & Kozlowska-Rajewicz, A. (2004) Month-of-birth effect on height and weight in Polish rural children. American Journal of Human Biology 16, 31–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krzyżanowska, M. & Borysławski, K. (2008) Body height in relation to rural-urban migration in Poland. Journal of Biosocial Science 40, 841–854.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krzyżanowska, M. & Umławska, W. (2010) The relationship of polish students' height, weight and BMI with some socioeconomic variables. Journal of Biosocial Science 42, 643–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, J. Z. & Campbell, C. D. (1997) Fate and Fortune in Rural China: Social Organization and Population Behavior in Liaoning, 1774–1873. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, S. S., Lau, J. T., Tse, L. Y. & Oppenheimer, S. J. (1996) Weight-for-age and weight-for-height references for Hong Kong children from birth to 18 years. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 32, 103–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, M. (1989) Yinger chusheng yuefen fenbu guilu chutan [Exploration of monthly distribution of births]. Zhongguo Renkou Kexue [China Population Science] 10, 29–35.Google Scholar
McCann, S. J. H. (2001) Height, societal threat, and the victory margin in presidential elections (1824–1992). Psychological Reports 88, 741–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meng, X. & Qian, N. (2009) The Long Run Health and Economic Consequences of Famine on Survivors: Evidence from China's Great Famine. NBER Working Papers. URL: http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/14917.html.Google Scholar
Morgan, S. L. (2000) Richer and taller: stature and living standards in China, 1979–1995. The China Journal 44, 1–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, J. E. (2000) Marital protection and marital selection: evidence from a historical-prospective sample of American men. Demography 37, 511–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakamura, K., Hoshino, Y., Kodama, K. & Yamamoto, M. (1999) Reliability of self-reported body height and weight of adult Japanese women. Journal of Biosocial Science 31, 555–558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pasternak, B. (1978) Seasons of birth and marriage in two Chinese localities. Human Ecology 6, 299–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pawlowski, B., Dunbar, R. I. M. & Lipowicz, A. (2000) Tall men have more reproductive success. Nature 403, 156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peng, X. (1987) Demographic consequences of the Great Leap Forward in China's provinces. Population and Development Review 13, 639–670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R., Defries, J. C. & Mcclearn, G. E. (1980) Behavioral Genetics: A Primer. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Schultz, T. P. (2002) Wage gains associated with height as a form of health human capital. American Economic Review 92, 349–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwekendiek, D. (2009) The effects of the seasons of the year on malnutrition in North Korea. Homo 60, 59–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwekendiek, D., Pak, S. & Kim, H-K. (2009) Variations in the birth-season effects on height attainment in the two Koreas. Annals of Human Biology 36, 421–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shephard, R. J., Lavallee, H., Jequier, J. C., Labarre, R., Volle, M. & Rajic, M. (1979) Season of birth and variations in stature, body mass, and performance. Human Biology 51, 299–316.Google ScholarPubMed
Song, S. (2009) Does famine have a long-term effect on cohort mortality? Evidence from the 1959–1961 Great Leap Forward Famine in China. Journal of Biosocial Science 41, 469–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, A. L. (1982) The reliability and validity of self-reported weight and height. Journal of Chronic Diseases 35, 295–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strauss, J. & Thomas, D. (1998) Health, nutrition, and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 36, 766–817.Google Scholar
Szklarska, A., Koziel, S., Bielicki, T. & Malina, R. M. (2007) Influence of height on attained level of education in males at 19 years of age. Journal of Biosocial Science 39, 575–582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wada, K., Tamakoshi, K., Tsunekawa, T., Otsuka, R., Zhang, H., Murata, C. et al. (2005) Validity of self-reported height and weight in a Japanese workplace population. International Journal of Obesity 29, 1093–1099.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, G. W., Prossinger, H. & Seidler, H. (1998) Height depends on month of birth. Nature 391(6669), 754–755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (1995) Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, J. M. (2002) Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Wu, X. & Treiman, D. J. (2004) The household registration system and social stratification in China: 1955–1996. Demography 41, 363–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, X. & Treiman, D. J. (2007) Inequality and equality under Chinese socialism: the Hukou system and intergenerational occupational mobility. American Journal of Sociology 113, 415–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, X., Wang, W. P., Guo, Z. P., Cheung, Y. B. & Karlberg, J. (2001) Seasonality of growth in Shanghai infants (n=4128) born in 11 consecutive years. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55, 714–725.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, J., Feldblum, P. J. & Fortney, J. A. (1993) The validity of self-reported height and weight in perimenopausal women. American Journal of Public Health 83, 1052–1053.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, W. (2002) Chinese Economic Reforms and Fertility Bahaviour [sic] : A Study of a North China Village. China Library, London.Google Scholar
Zheng, Z. (2000) Social–demographic influence on first birth interval in China, 1980–1992. Journal of Biosocial Science 32, 315–327.Google Scholar