Blood group and height in a multiethnic population

In a sample of 4,472 boys, aged 17-18 years, resident in Jerusalem, those with blood groups B or AB tended to be slightly shorter than groups·and A (p = 0.011). Participants were classified into 8 groups according to father's country of origin: Israel, Southern Europe/Balkans, rest of Europe, North Africa, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and the rest of Asia. The association of ABO blood group, classified according to the presence of the B antigen (groups B and AB) or its absence (O and A), with height differed in the 8 origin groups (p ≈ 0.026 for interaction). In 7 of the 8 groups, subjects with the B allele were either shorter or of equal height to groups·and A and in only one instance were they taller. These findings do not support the generalizability of a positive association of the presence of the B antigen with height suggested by Borecki et al. [1985].