Secular Change of Height in Turkish Young Adults

Current Turkish growth reference charts based on anthropometric measurements of individuals with high socioeconomic status in Istanbul in 1989-2002 (TK2002) had shown an increase of mean adult height (1.4 and 2.7 cm in males and females) compared with 1978. Given recent improvements in nutrition, hygiene and access to preventive health services, it is hypothesized that this positive secular trend may continue. A prior power analysis (95% power) showed that at least 122 subjects of each sex were needed to detect a 1.8 cm height increase (p=0.05) vs TK2002. In 2023-2024 a sample of Turkish young adults (18-26 years) was randomly selected from 65,000 students at Istanbul University, originating from every region of Turkey (TK2024). Height, weight, and socioeconomic status (SES, categorized into four groups) were recorded and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Adult height and BMI were compared with TK2002 and with young adults of Turkish origin living in the Netherlands measured in 2009 (NL2009).