The Association between Height and Mental Health in Korean Male Adolescents

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The growth of Korean adolescents' average height has slowed over the past 10 years. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between height and mental health in Korean male adolescents.METHODS: This study used data from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (34,152 male school students). The male adolescents were divided into the below-average height and above-average height groups according to age. The association between height and mental health was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.RESULTS: The above-average height group had significantly higher subjective health (P=0.003) and significantly lower depression than the belowaverage height group (P=0.031). In multivariate logistic regression, the odds ratio of subjective health wass 1.13 (P=0.043), but no significant difference in subjective happiness, depression, stress and suicidal ideation (P>0.05) at both group.CONCLUSION: It was confirmed that height is associated with subjective health in Korean male adolescents.