Authors: Luiz Paulo Nogueról, Cláudio D. Shikida, Leonardo M. Monasterio
02/2005;
This paper analyzes the heights of the Brazilian people using anthropometric and economic data from the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) 2002-2003. The literature suggests that height is aThis paper analyzes the heights of the Brazilian people using anthropometric and economic data from the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) 2002-2003. The literature suggests that height is a good proxy of the physical life conditions of the populations. The tabulations of POF microdata indicate that the difference among the heights of 21 and 65-year-old men is circa 6 centimeters. The same value, by chance, represents the difference on the stature of the poorest and richest quintiles. There are also steady regional differences; in the North and Northeast, the heights are about 2 centimeters lower than the national average, for any cohort. Regression analyses show that proxy variables related to life conditions during body growth and regional dummies were statistically significant causes of the variation on the height of individuals. In contrast, color, urban/rural and inequality variables were not significant. The results replicate what the historiography on life conditions and stature says: the social environment has a significant impact on the average height of the populations.
