According to research by the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP), women grew 1.46 centimetres taller than their mothers and men are 3 centimetres taller than their fathers.

This is the first study conducted to date, in Portugal, to assess the differences between a generation and that of their parents - describing differences between men and women, separately - and their relationship with socioeconomic factors.

Socioeconomic factors such as education and occupation affect parents' behaviours and actions with regard to diet, smoking habits and access to health care, among others.

"This context could limit the maximum growth of their children, by conditioning their genetic potential", reads the study.

Thus, underline the researchers, factors such as access to better food, better health care and reduced exposure to infectious diseases, due to improved hygienic-sanitary conditions had an effect on younger generations.

An indicator of inequalities

Height is, therefore, "an indicator of population health and a marker of socioeconomic inequalities".

The results of the study "Socioeconomic factors and intergenerational differences in height of Portuguese adults born in 1990: results from the EPITeen cohort" were published in the Journal of Biosocial Science.

The investigation was conducted by Berta Valente (first author), Elisabete Ramos and Joana Araújo, researchers at ISPUP.