The coefficient of sexual dimorphism height in adults as a criterion of social and environmental well-being

Introduction. Changes in morphological status are important to study in changing environmental conditions due to the dependence of sexual dimorphism on the influence of stress factors.

The aim to study the course of the stressful impact of a complex of factors on a human population by assessing sexual dimorphism in the height in young adults.

Materials and Methods: Depersonalized height data for adults born in 1958–1961 (1^st generation: 410 men and 625 women), 1979–1989 (2^nd generation: 423 and 518 individuals), and 2000–2004 (3^rd generation: 160 and 414 individuals) were used. The impact of stress was assessed using the sexual dimorphism coefficient.

Results. In the first generation, men with a height of 170–174 cm predominated, while women with a height of 160–164 cm. In the second and third generations, trimodal heights were observed in men, while bimodal heights were observed in women. When comparing the average heights of the first and second and first and third generations, statistically significant differences were revealed for both men and women. The sexual dimorphism coefficients indicate to moderate stress for the second-generation subpopulation; low stress in the short-stature subgroups of the first and third generations; and high stress for the tall-stature subgroups.

Limitations. The relative contribution of environmental factors, lifestyle, and genetic characteristics in representatives of the studied generations has not been studied.

Conclusion. Changes in height are more pronounced in male groups. The coefficients of sexual dimorphism indicate to the stress effect of a complex of factors on the somatic status of tall men and women.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require a biomedical ethics committee opinion or other documents.

Contribution:
Efimova N.V. – study concept and design, statistical processing and data analysis, writing, editing;
Bogdanova O.G. – data collection and statistical processing, writing;
Mylnikova I.V. – literature review, writing the text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: March 3, 2026 / Revised:  April 16, 2026 / Accepted:  September 15, 2026 / Published: October 20, 2026

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