Is paternal height related to fertility outcomes? Evidence from the Netherlands during the secular growth trend

Summary

Over the past two centuries, the Dutch experienced a tremendous secular trend in height, and ultimately became the tallest nation in the world. Improving environmental conditions likely played the largest role in explaining these developments. But it is not yet precisely clear what factor set the Dutch head and shoulders above other nations, who were also experiencing improving environmental conditions. Could fertility also have played a role? To understand this, we would first need to know whether height and fertility were related during the secular growth trend. In this study, we investigated whether this was the case. A sample of Dutch men, birth years 1850–1900 (n = 3396), was examined. We tested the extents to which height was associated with having a certain number of children, and with having a certain number of children survive infancy. Multinomial logistic regressions were used. In terms of findings, height's relationship to fertility outcomes was curvilinear: being shorter-than-average (0.75–0.5 standard deviations below the mean height) was associated with a higher probability of being married and having five to seven children, while being moderately tall (0.5 standard deviations above the mean height) was associated with the lowest probability of being unmarried. There was no relationship between paternal height and children surviving infancy in the sample overall, but taller height was associated with a decreased risk of being in a high-mortality family among men born between 1880 and 1900. If paternal fertility played a role in the secular growth trend, we would expect to see very tall men have the most children, and clearly have the most children surviving infancy. Given this study's findings, it is unlikely that this was the case.