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SCIENCE

The Claim

A child's adult height is primarily inherited from the father rather than the mother.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Height is not mainly inherited from the father. The best available evidence shows adult height is a highly polygenic trait shaped by many genes inherited from both parents, plus environmental factors such as nutrition and health. Studies cited for a paternal effect are either preliminary, locus-specific, or misinterpreted, and some actually show strong maternal associations rather than paternal dominance.

Caveats

  • Parent-of-origin or imprinting effects at specific genes do not mean overall height is primarily inherited from fathers.
  • Clinical or niche short-stature studies cannot be generalized to the whole population, especially when their findings do not show paternal dominance.
  • Consumer height formulas may mention paternal input, but they are rough predictors and not evidence of father-primary genetic inheritance.

The Receipts

  1. Linkage analysis of adult height with parent-of-origin effects ... - PMC

    PMC

  2. Is height determined by genetics?

    MedlinePlus

  3. Genetic and environmental influences on human height from infancy through adulthood at different levels of parental educational attainment

    PubMed Central

  4. Largest genome-wide association study ever uncovers nearly all ...

    Broad Institute

  5. Maternal Height and Child Growth Patterns

    PMC

  6. Comparative heights of mothers and fathers whose children are short

    PubMed

  7. Reassessment of the role of DNA methylation in the sex-specific response to fasting

    PMC

  8. Genetic determinants of childhood and adult height associated with ...

    PMC

  9. Child growth: Can you predict adult height?

    Mayo Clinic

  10. The genetics of height - Medicover Genetics

    Medicover Genetics

+ 3 more sources — see the full list on Lenz