Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Child Height in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Child height is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. However, it is unclear how these factors vary by geographical region and by study design, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where data is scarce. Understanding these variations will aid the identification of factors that may be hindering growth in specific populations.

Methods

We analyzed height data of children under 5 years of age from 17 066 twin pairs and 2 024 672 parent-offspring pairs using the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 69 countries. We estimated genetic and environmental contributions to child height using a mixture distribution model for twins to account for unknown zygosity and a parent-offspring regression for singletons. A mixture distribution mode

SUBMITTER: Dewau R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12406180 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature