From Height Premium to Weight Penalty? Evidence from Swedish Cohorts (1950–2022)

Gabriel Brea-Martinez , Centre for Economic Demography/Dept. of Economic History- Lund University
Ingrid van Dijk, Lund University
Luciana Quaranta, Lund University

Height and body mass index (BMI) are biological indicators of health and have been linked to adult socioeconomic outcomes. While there is a socioeconomic premium to stature in education and income, greater adiposity correlates with socioeconomic disadvantage in high-income societies. This study investigates how height and BMI in early adulthood predict occupational prestige among Swedish men and women born 1950-1981. We investigate the trend over time and stature and BMI differences in career trajectories. Using Swedish register data linked with historical sources, we trace individuals’ social origins across two generations and control for parental background, family structure, and demographic factors. Height and BMI are standardised within sex, birth year, and social class to account for secular trends, and within-family models are used to control for unobserved genetic and environmental effects. Preliminary results show a persistent but declining height advantage across cohorts: for men born in the 1950s, a one-standard-deviation increase in height corresponds to roughly a three-rank increase in occupational prestige, shrinking to about 1.5 ranks among those born in the 1980s. Conversely, BMI is negatively associated with socioeconomic attainment, and this association has strengthened over time, especially among individuals in the highest BMI percentiles. These associations remain largely consistent across social backgrounds. The findings suggest that while the socioeconomic returns to height have diminished, the penalties associated with higher BMI have grown, reflecting changing social norms and inequalities in health and body image. Future work will extend the analysis to women, and educational outcomes across the life course.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 49. Health and Economic Outcomes