Wanna be tall?: Get rich first!

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A recent study by the World Health Organization found that increased height among Indonesian men was associated with increased income.

The study, reported in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, found that a one percent increase in height was associated on average with an additional 2.6 percent in earnings.

Similar findings have been reported in other countries among groups of people who rely on manual strength for earning their livelihoods, WHO Indonesia said in a statement.

The authors of the report explained that the overall low height among Indonesian adults could be due to poor health and nutrition in early childhood, which prevented people from reaching their full physical and mental potential.

The research was commissioned for the Report on Macroeconomics and Health, initiated by WHO director general Gro Harlem Brundtland and chaired by eminent economist Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University.

The report found that ill-health reduced household wealth in three main ways. First, illnesses increased medical expenses, including the time and travel costs involved in seeking health care. Second, sick adults lost time away from work.

Third, households whose family members suffered from severe illnesses or were hospitalized might have to stop sending their children to school or might have to sell assets to pay for health care.

Forgone education and assets reduced the potential for future income.

This problem was important in Indonesia where the vast majority of households did not have insurance for hospitalization and emergency care, WHO Indonesia said.