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Abstract
Background: Body height is a versatile bio-indicator in that it reflects the quality of physical development. Fluctuating asymmetry, on the other hand, refers to small random deviations from perfect symmetry in bilaterally paired structures and is believed to reflect the ability of an organism to cope with genetic and environmental stresses during its development.
Aim: This study sought to investigate the relationship between body height and fluctuating asymmetry in young adult males who display different height-development structures.
Subject and methods: Height and eight bilateral non-facial traits were measured in a sample of 320 young male individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds who display differences in height. Z-scores of each individual were calculated based on the age-range values indicated in the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) 2000 growth data of the US.
Results: The five measurements demonstrating fluctuating asymmetry indicate that there is a significant increase in fluctuating asymmetry that parallels the decrease in body height. Developmental stability increases with the increasing body height.
Conclusion: This finding implies that the stresses causing slower growth in body height might have negative effects also on fluctuating asymmetry.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr John Graham and Ms Cathy Graham for numerous valuable comments which have helped to improve an earlier version of this manuscript. We also thank everyone at the public schools who made this research project possible and the families who participated in the study.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.