Sex differences in genetic and environmental factors contributing to body-height.

ABSTRACT

Sex differences in the heritability of self-reported body-height in two Finnish twin cohorts were studied by using sex-limitation models. The first cohort was born in 1938-1949 (N = 4873 twin pairs) and the second in 1975-1979 (N = 2374 twin pairs). Body-height was greater in the younger cohort (difference of 3.1 cm for men and 2.9 cm for women). The heritability estimates were higher among men (h2 = 0.87 in the older cohort and h2 = 0.82 in the younger cohort) than women (h2 = 0.78 and h2 = 0.67, respectively). Sex-specific genetic factors were not statistically significant in either cohort, suggesting that the same genes contribute to variation in body height for both men and women. The stronger contribution of environmental factors to body-height among women questions the hypothesis that women are better buffered against environmental stress, at least for this phenotype.