Is height associated with cardiovascular risk in Chinese adults?

BACKGROUND: Better childhood conditions, proxied by greater height, are usually protective against ischemic heart disease in western countries. These relations are less evident in other settings. METHODS: We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relation of height to the metabolic syndrome and its components in a rapidly developed Asian population using a representative, cross-sectional Hong Kong Chinese sample of 2860 adults from 1994 to 1996. RESULTS: Height was inversely associated with increased blood pressure (odds ratio = 0.74; 95% confidence interval = 0.58-0.94) and raised fasting plasma glucose (0.71; 0.55-0.91), but only after adjustment for central obesity. Central obesity was also positively associated with height (2.09; 1.67-2.62) for tallest compared with shortest tertile, confounding these relationships. The association between height and central obesity was much stronger in men than in women. CONCLUSION: The relation of height to cardiovascular risk may relate to a society's history and stage of socioeconomic development.