Biomarkers · Anthropometric

Standing Height

Higher values go with lower risk of death. In NHANES 1999–2018 with linked mortality to 2019, each standard deviation above average goes with 1% higher risk of death. No clear pattern in NHANES

Standing Height and risk of death

NHANES, our fit with 95% CIPublished curve

Published curve higher than the NHANES fitNHANES fit higher

Risk of death relative to each curve's own reference value, so the two curves need not cross 1 at the same point. The dotted vertical line marks the NHANES median.

Risk of death per SD (NHANES)1.01×95% CI 0.97–1.04 · 50,921 adults, 7,362 deaths

Published risk of death0.97×per 6.5 cm greater height (95% CI 0.96–0.99) · Individual-participant meta-analysis of 121 prospective studies (n=1,085,949), Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration

Value of the measurement+0.001gain in concordance within age bands; rank 56 of 56 · all tests

Standing Height across cohorts

0.750.80.91HR per SD (95% CI)

NHANES · United States, 20–8450,921 people · 7,362 deaths1.01 0.97–1.04

HRS · United States, 50+23,974 people · 8,340 deaths0.91 0.88–0.95

CHARLS · China, 50+10,402 people · 1,701 deaths0.86 0.77–0.95

Risk-of-death ratio per standard deviation, adjusted for age and sex, within each cohort. Cohorts differ in age range, assay, measurement protocol and follow-up, and one SD is a different amount in each, so the comparison is of direction and rough size per SD, not per unit. Vertical line: no association.

Standing Height by age and sex

Each bar runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile, the darker part from the 25th to the 75th, and the tick is the median. Not a reference range or a target.

The percentiles as a table

Each row is one sex and age band: the values below which 5%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% of people fall (cm), from the survey named in the row. Not a reference range or a target.
Sex	Age	5th	25th	Median	75th	95th	n	Cycle / source
All	20-39	154	162	169	176	186	1,525	NHANES 2017-2018
All	40-59	153	161	168	176	185	1,636	NHANES 2017-2018
All	60+	151	158	165	173	182	1,969	NHANES 2017-2018
All	all	152	160	168	175	185	5,130	NHANES 2017-2018
Men	20-39	165	171	176	180	188	731	NHANES 2017-2018
Men	40-59	164	171	176	181	188	771	NHANES 2017-2018
Men	60+	161	169	173	178	185	998	NHANES 2017-2018
Men	all	163	170	175	180	188	2,500	NHANES 2017-2018
Women	20-39	152	158	162	167	174	794	NHANES 2017-2018
Women	40-59	151	157	161	166	173	865	NHANES 2017-2018
Women	60+	148	154	158	163	170	971	NHANES 2017-2018
Women	all	150	156	161	165	172	2,630	NHANES 2017-2018

What studies found when this marker was changed

They describe what happened in those study groups, not a recommendation. See all catalogued interventions.

Measured changes in Standing Height, study by study

3 effects with a numeric size, each from one study arm: the dot is the reported change, the line its 95% interval where one was given. Green points move the marker the way lower risk of death lies; amber the other way. Study results in the groups studied, not predictions for a person.

Each row is one study: what was changed, the effect it reported on this marker, and the source.
Type	Intervention	Reported effect	Evidence	Source
pharmacologic	Oral oxandrolone added to growth hormone therapy for 3-7.6 years in girls with Turner syndrome aged up to 18	Final adult height 2.7 cm greater (95% CI 1.3-4.1) with oxandrolone plus GH than GH alone (moderate-quality evidence)	meta-analysis	Mohamed S, Alkofide H, Adi YA, et al. Oxandrolone for growth hormone-treated…
pharmacologic	Recombinant growth hormone 0.1 mg/kg three times per week from age 5-12.5 until adult height in girls with Turner syndrome	Growth hormone raised adult height by 0.78 SD (about 5.0 cm) vs placebo; adding childhood ultra-low-dose oestrogen gave a further 2.1 cm (P=0.059)	RCT	Ross JL, Quigley CA, Cao D, et al. Growth hormone plus childhood low-dose…
pharmacologic	Daily subcutaneous vosoritide 15 ug/kg for 3 years in children with achondroplasia (open-label phase 3 extension vs untreated external controls)	Additional height gain of 5.75 cm (95% CI 4.93-6.57) over three years vs untreated children; annualized growth velocity +1.84 cm/year in boys and +1.44 in girls	non-randomised trial	Savarirayan R, Irving M, Wilcox WR, et al. Sustained growth-promoting effects…

Sources

Risk curve: Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration 2012 (PMID 22825588): all-cause HR 0.97 (0.96-0.99) per 6.5 cm greater height. Scaled to US values (NHANES).
Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration et al. Adult height and the risk of cause-specific death and vascular morbidity in 1 million people: individual participant meta-analysis. International journal of epidemiology. 2012;41:1419-33.
NHANES curve: our Cox model adjusted for age and sex, NHANES 1999–2018 with linked mortality to 2019.

Map Standing Height against another biomarker.

Map Standing Height against another marker