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Non-genetic component of height as a surrogate marker for childhood socioeconomic position and its association with cardiovascular and brain health: results from HCHS/SOL

Moon, J.-Y.; Filigrana, P.; Gallo, L. C.; Perreira, K. M.; Cai, J.; Daviglus, M.; Fernandez-Rhodes, L. E.; Garcia-Bedoya, O.; Qi, Q.; Thyagarajan, B.; Tarraf, W.; Wang, T.; Kaplan, R.; Isasi, C. R.

2026-04-13 epidemiology
10.64898/2026.04.08.26350438 medRxiv
Show abstract

Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) can have lifelong effects on health. Many studies have used adult height as a surrogate marker for early-life conditions. In this study, we derived the non-genetic component of height, calculated as the residual from sex-specific standardized height regressed on genetically predicted height, as a surrogate for childhood SEP, using data from the Hispanic Community Healthy Study/Study of Latinos (2008-2011). A positive residual would indicate favorable early-life conditions promoting growth, while a negative residual indicates early-life adversity that may stunt the development. The height residual was associated with early-life variables such as parental education, year of birth, US nativity and age at first migration to the US (50 states/DC), supporting the validity of height residual as a surrogate for early-life conditions. Furthermore, a height residual was positively associated with better cardiovascular health (CVH) and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults. Interestingly, among <35 years old, the height residual was negatively associated with the "Lifes Essential 8" clinical CVH scores. These results suggest the non-genetic component of height as a surrogate for childhood environment, with predictive value for CVH and cognitive function.

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