Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) has been recognized to have lifelong effects on health, but often studies rely on recollected information subject to bias. Several studies suggest taller adult height is a surrogate for favorable childhood SES, likely due to better nutrition during skeletal development. We aimed to parse out the non-genetic component of height (height_non-pgs) as a refined surrogate for childhood SES. We hypothesized that higher height_non-pgs is associated with higher childhood SES, and further with better cardiovascular and brain health in adulthood.

Self-reported information such as parental education, nativity (born in US), age at migration, and economic hardship to pay for basic needs and access to household utilities during childhood were collected from US Hispanics/Latinos aged 18-74 years in HCHS/SOL (2008-2011). Height_non-pgs was estimated by subtracting genetically predicted height from the measured height, where the model was fitted on sex-standardized height with Hispanic-specific height polygenic score, genetic ancestry components, and sex. The AHA-LE8 cardiovascular health (CVH) clinical score was derived. Neurocognitive function (6-item screener, Spanish English Verbal Learning Test, Word fluency, Digit symbol substitution) was assessed among >45 years. We examined the associations of height_non-pgs with childhood environment and health outcomes by survey linear regressions.

A higher height_non-pgs was associated with better childhood environment - younger generation, higher parental education, US born or migrated at younger age, and availability of plumbing, electricity, and phone during childhood - but not with childhood economic hardship. Height_non-pgs was positively associated with better cognitive functions in all domains, adjusting for covariates. These associations with height_non-pgs were more pronounced than those with measured height. Height_non-pgs showed positive associations with better clinical CVH score among 45+ aged people. Among <45 years, height_non-pgs was negatively associated with clinical CVH score.

We observed that height_non-pgs reflects childhood SES, potentially through better nutrition and greater access to resources that promote growth. Stronger associations of height_non-pgs and health, compared to associations with measured height, suggest that height_non-pgs is a good proxy for childhood environment. The paradoxical association of height_non-pgs with CVH among <45 years old needs further investigation.