Parent-Child Correlations for Stature and Weight among School Aged Children: A Review of 24 Studies

Document Type

Article

Authors

William H. Mueller, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas

Abstract

Parent-child correlations for stature and weight from 24 studies of school aged children are reviewed. The samples represent a variety of genetic and environmental backgrounds. There is considerable variability among samples for all of the parent-offspring comparisons (father-son, mother-son, father-daughter, and mother-daughter). Samples of European ancestry have higher parent-child correlations for stature than samples of non-European ancestry. Absence of assortative mating, reduced parent­offspring environmental correlations, and malnutrition which might in­crease the environmental component of the variance, are factors contributing to lower parent-child correlations among non-European samples. Heritability of stature in school aged children as given by the midparent-child regression, varies from 31% to 58% among six of the samples reviewed. These heritabilities are somewhat lower than those obtained by doubling the parent-child correlations, and are considerably lower than those obtained by twin methods.

Recommended Citation

Mueller, William H. (1976) "Parent-Child Correlations for Stature and Weight among School Aged Children: A Review of 24 Studies," Human Biology: Vol. 48: Iss. 2, Article 11.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol48/iss2/11