Each centimeter/inch counts for women in developing countries. This is the outcome of research by Christiaan Monden of Tilburg University and Jeroen Smits of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which was recently published online in American Journal of Human Biology.
Data from 42 developing countries showed that babies and young children have better survival chances if their mothers are taller.
Using data from the Nijmegen "Database Developing World" for almost 200,000 mothers and 300,000 births in 42 developing countries, sociologists Christiaan Monden and Jeroen Smits show that the likelihood that children die directly after birth or in their first years is smaller if the mother is taller. The mothers varied in height between 134 and 178 cm (4'5" and 5'10'').
The effect of height is remarkably stable. There are hardly any systematic differences within or among countries. Only education of the mother was found to matter: for mothers without education height is more important than for mothers with some primary school. A higher level of education is associated with lower child mortality. The study also showed that twins (who usually experience higher mortality) benefit more than average of a taller mother.