Young adult height of offspring born to rural-to-urban migrant parents and urban-born parents.

ABSTRACT

This study addresses the influence of the urban or rural origin of parents on the attained height of 19-year-old young adult males resident in urban centers. The material for the study was a 10% random sample of 19-year-old Polish conscripts born in 1976 and examined in 1995. The conscripts represented all regions of the country and all social strata. Among the total sample, only those who were born and raised in and who currently lived in cities with a population > 100,000 inhabitants were retained for analysis. They were grouped by educational level of their parents and by family size (number of children). Within limits of homogeneous groups, the heights of conscripts whose parents were both of rural origin were compared to heights of conscripts whose parents were both of urban origin. Within each of nine homogeneous groups, conscripts whose parents were both of rural origin were, on average, taller than conscripts whose parents were both of urban origin. Results were similar when the origin and educational level of either the mother or the father, in addition to family size, were considered separately.