eprintid: 10147970 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/14/79/70 datestamp: 2022-05-05 15:32:12 lastmod: 2022-05-05 15:32:12 status_changed: 2022-05-05 15:32:12 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Rickenbacher, Marc creators_name: Gültekin, Nejla creators_name: Stanga, Zeno creators_name: Bender, Nicole creators_name: Staub, Kaspar creators_name: Wells, Jonathan C creators_name: Matthes, Katarina L creators_name: Reber, Emile title: The role of body height as a co-factor of excess weight in Switzerland ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: G25 divisions: D13 divisions: B02 note: Copyright © 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Human Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. abstract: OBJECT: Excess weight (Body Mass Index [BMI] ≥25.0 kg/m2 ) is a major health issue worldwide, including in Switzerland. For high-income countries, little attention has been paid to body height in context of excess weight. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of body height as a co-factor for excess weight in multiple large nationwide data sets. DATA AND METHODS: In this comparative study, we included the largest nationwide and population-based studies in the fields of public health, nutrition and economics for Switzerland, as well as data of the medical examination during conscription for the Swiss Armed Forces, which contained information on BMI and, if possible, waist-to-height-ratio (WHtR) and waist-to-hip-ratio (WHR). RESULTS: The multinomial logistic regressions show that the probability of belonging to the excess weight category (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2 ) decreased with increasing height in both sexes inall contemporary data sets. This negative association was shown to be constant, only among conscripts measured in the 1870s the association was positive, when increasing height was associated with a higher BMI. The negative association not only emerge in BMI, but also in WHtR and WHR. CONCLUSION: Our results emphasize the importance of body height as a co-factor of excess weight, suggesting a clear negative association between height and BMI, WHtR and WHR. Evidence indicates that both early-life environmental exposures and alleles associated with height may contribute to these associations. This knowledge could serve as further starting points for prevention programs in the field of public health. date: 2022-04-30 date_type: published publisher: Wiley official_url: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23754 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1952537 doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23754 medium: Print-Electronic lyricists_name: Wells, Jonathan lyricists_id: JWELL04 actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette actors_id: BFFLY94 actors_role: owner funding_acknowledgements: [Bundesamt für Gesundheit]; [Mäxi Foundation]; [Privatdozenten Foundation at the University of Zurich]; [Swiss Armed Forces]; [Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office] full_text_status: public publication: American Journal of Human Biology article_number: e23754 event_location: United States citation: Rickenbacher, Marc; Gültekin, Nejla; Stanga, Zeno; Bender, Nicole; Staub, Kaspar; Wells, Jonathan C; Matthes, Katarina L; Rickenbacher, Marc; Gültekin, Nejla; Stanga, Zeno; Bender, Nicole; Staub, Kaspar; Wells, Jonathan C; Matthes, Katarina L; Reber, Emile; - view fewer <#> (2022) The role of body height as a co-factor of excess weight in Switzerland. American Journal of Human Biology , Article e23754. 10.1002/ajhb.23754 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23754>. (In press). Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10147970/1/American%20J%20Hum%20Biol%20-%202022%20-%20Rickenbacher.pdf