Adult body height and childhood socioeconomic group in the Swedish population.

Cross-sectional data from interviews of a sample of the Swedish population aged 16 to 74 years in 1980-81 were used to obtain information on the relation between father's socioeconomic status during the childhood of the participants and the adult body height of the latter. A difference in height between members of higher and lower socioeconomic groups was found. The difference diminished over falling age but was still noticeable among men born in the early and mid 1950s. The mean difference in height between sons of senior salaried employees and sons of unskilled workers was 2.9 cm. The difference was less for women.