Association between height and hypercholesterolemia in adults: a nationwide population-based study in Korea.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies reported that stature is inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, there is limited evidence on the association between height and lipid profiles. We aimed to examine the association of height with total cholesterol and hypercholesterolemia based on the nationally representative dataset of Korean adults.


METHODS
The data of 13,701 adults aged ≥19 years who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015) were used in this nationwide population-based cross-sectional study. Hypercholesterolemia was defined as a serum total cholesterol level ≥ 240 mg/dL or use of lipid-lowering medications. Multivariable linear regression and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association of height with mean total cholesterol level and odds ratios (ORs) of hypercholesterolemia.


RESULTS
Approximately 17% of participants had hypercholesterolemia. Mean total cholesterol levels decreased in the higher quartile (Q) groups of height after adjusting for confounding variables including age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, income, educational level, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus (P for trend = 0.035). After adjusting for these potential confounding variables, the adjusted ORs of hypercholesterolemia were significantly lower in the Q3 and Q4 groups than in the Q1 group; ORs decreased in the higher quartile groups of height (OR: 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.71-0.99 in Q3; 0.81, 0.69-0.95 in Q4, P for trend = 0.007). The association between height (Q4 vs. Q1-Q3) and hypercholesterolemia was stronger in men or individuals without hypertension or diabetes than in women or individuals with such diseases.


CONCLUSIONS
Height is inversely associated with total cholesterol level and odds of hypercholesterolemia among Korean adults. Childhood environment related to short stature may be associated with hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular health in adulthood.
['Lee|Mi Yeon|MY|', 'Nam|Ga Eun|GE|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6739-9904', 'Han|Kyungdo|K|', 'Kim|Da Hye|DH|', 'Kim|Yang Hyun|YH|', 'Cho|Kyung Hwan|KH|', 'Park|Yong Gyu|YG|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D001827:Body Height D002784:Cholesterol D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D006937:Hypercholesterolemia D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009749:Nutrition Surveys D056910:Republic of Korea D055815:Young Adult
Height Hypercholesterolemia Adults Total cholesterol