Height, Socioeconomic and Subjective Well-Being Factors among U.S. Women, Ages 49-79

Background: A vast literature has associated height with numerous factors, including biological, psychological, socioeconomic, anthropologic, genetic, environmental, and ecologic, among others. The aim of this study is to examine, among U.S. women, height factors focusing on health, income, education, occupation, social activities, religiosity and subjective well-being. Methods/Findings: Data are from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study. Participants are 93,676 relatively healthy women ages 49-79; 83% of whom are White, 17% Non-White. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, chi-square and multivariable covariance analyses. The mean height of the total sample is 63.67 inches. White women are significantly taller than Non-White women, mean heights 63.68 vs. 63.63 inches (p=0.0333). Among both Non-White and White women height is associated with social behavior, i.e. attendance at clubs/lodges/groups. Women who reported attendance ‘once a week or more often’ were taller than those who reported ‘none’ and ‘once to 3 times a month’. Means in inches are respectively for: White women--63.73 vs. 63.67 and 63.73 vs. 63.67, p=0.0027. p= 0.0298; Non-White women: 63.77 vs. 63.61 and 63.77 vs. 63.60, p=0.0050, P=0.0094. In both White and Non-White women, income, education and subjective well-being were not associated with height. However, other factors differed by race/ethnicity. Taller White women hold or have held managerial/ professional jobs--yes vs. no--63.70 vs. 63.66 inches; P=0.036; and given ‘a little’ strength and comfort from religion’ compared to ‘none’ and ‘a great deal’, 63.73 vs. 63.66 P=0.0418 and 63.73 vs. 63.67, P=0.0130. Taller Non-White women had better health—excellent or very good vs. good, fair or poor--63.70 vs. 63.59, P=0.0116. Conclusions: Further research in diverse populations is suggested by the new findings: being taller is associated with social activities –frequent attendance clubs/lodges/groups”, and with ‘a little’ vs. ‘none’ or ‘great deal’ of strength and comfort from religion

The application of tracer techniques in endocrinology

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityUsing a labelled estrogen (radiodibromestrone) it has been demonstrated that none of the body tissues accumulate the steroid to any marked degree. The excretion route was found to be by way of the bile into the intestine . An enterohepatic circulation has been suggested, since some estrone was resorbed from the intestine into the blood and left the body in the urine

Delayed Menarche and Amenorrhea in Ballet Dancers

YOUNG female ballet dancers attending professional schools or dancing in companies in which thinness is much admired restrict their food intake and are highly active. The unusual eating habits and levels of activity of some of these dancers have been related to lack of menstrual cycles.1 Amenorrhea and late menarche among girls and women with average activity levels are associated with undernutrition and weight loss in the range of 10 to 15 per cent of the normal weight for height; such weight loss apparently reduces the fat/lean ratio to less than a critical level. We report here on 89 young ballet dancers among whom there was a high incidence of primary amenorrhea, secondary amenorrhea, irregular cycles, and delayed menarche — an incidence correlated with excessive thinness

The Familial Clustering of Age at Menarche in Extended Twin Families

The timing of puberty is complex, possibly involving many genetic factors that may interact with environmental influences. Familial resemblance for age at menarche was studied in a sample of 4,995 female twins, 1,296 sisters, 2,946 mothers and 635 female spouses of male twins. They had indicated their age at menarche as part of a larger longitudinal survey. We assessed assortative mating for age at menarche, gene–environment interaction effects and estimated the heritability of individual differences in pubertal timing. There was significant evidence of gene–environment interaction, accounting for 1.5% of the variance. There was no indication of consistent mate assortment on age at menarche. Individual differences in age at menarche are highly heritable, with additive genetic factors explaining at least 70% of the true variation. An additional 1.5% of the variation can be explained by a genotype–environment interaction effect where environmental factors are more important in individuals genetically predisposed for late menarche

A Profile of the Health-Promoting Behaviors of Physicians and Lawyers

The federal government has increased its activities directed toward health promotion and disease prevention. We carried out a pilot survey of a random sample of Massachusetts physicians and lawyers to obtain a profile of the personal health-promoting behaviors in the two professional groups

Pregnancy during Residency

To identify possible barriers to women physicians who wish to combine parenting with medical careers, we studied 56 of 64 pregnancies from the past 10 years in 63 of 66 Harvard-affiliated residency programs. Pregnancies during residency were common (one in eight married women in 1983) and were usually planned (77 percent). Most institutions were unprepared for pregnancies among members of the house staff; four fifths of the programs had no maternity-leave policy. No one quit a residency program because of pregnancy, and pregnancy rarely affected achievement of board certification. Whether the pregnant women found pregnancy during residency a "pleasant" experience was determined largely by whether the program director was supportive, whether the issue of pregnancy was openly discussed within the program, and whether the woman was permitted to return to work on a part-time basis for the first weeks after maternity leave. We conclude that pregnancy within residency programs should be expected and planned for and that if proper arrangements are made, it need not be a major problem for either the training program or the pregnant resident. (N Engl J Med 1986; 314:418–23.

Familial twinning and fertility in Dutch mothers of twins.

We studied twinning and fertility indices in mothers with spontaneous monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins and in mothers who conceived their twins after the use of assisted reproduction techniques (ART). Participants in this study consisted of 8,222 and 5,505 women with spontaneous DZ and MZ offspring and 4,164 and 250 women with ART DZ and MZ twin pairs, respectively. Women were compared with respect to the number of sibs and offspring, the presence of other relatives with twins and the time it took to conceive the twins. We also compared familial twinning between a younger and an older age group. Women with spontaneous DZ twins more often reported female relatives with twins than those with spontaneous MZ twins. The proportion of DZ versus MZ twin offspring in relatives was also larger in women with spontaneous DZ offspring than in women with MZ offspring. The first group of women reported a shorter time to conceive. Women with ART twins had fewer sibs and offspring and less often reported relatives with twins. We did not observe that DZ twinning was more familial in women who had their twins before age 36 years compared to older women. Familial DZ twinning is clearly present in mothers of spontaneous DZ twins. The mechanisms underlying spontaneous and non-spontaneous DZ twinning are different and fertility treatment should be taken into account in any study of twinning. Twinning is not more familial in women who have their twins at a younger age