Height and Per Capita Income

As an aid to interpreting the results of height-by-age studies this paper investigates the relationship between average height and per capita income. The relationships among income, nutrition, medical care, and height at the individual level suggest that average height is nonlinearly related to per capita income and that the distribution of income is an important determinant of average height. Empirical analysis rests on 56 height studies and per capita income estimates for 20 developed or developing countries.