On the other hand, teens who are "late bloomers" can have minimal height changes until they have a larger growth spurt around the time of their relatively late puberty.

CNN: What can I do to grow taller?

The authors of the study look at changes in the weight and height of a large group of Americans aged over 50 between 1992 and 2004.

ECONOMIST: Does a tax on junk food make sense?

If I were to reveal, for example, that the height of Alistair Darling's eyebrows changes in precise proportion to GDP growth six months later, it would be an economic breakthrough of cosmic proportions.

BBC: The popcorn route to recovery

The report published on Tuesday - part-funded by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) - looked more at changes in the average weight and height of passengers in the past few decades than the highly-publicised fears over so-called "traveller's thrombosis".

BBC: Civil Aviation Authority report

They are also linked to discernible changes in reindeer management in response to gains in shrub height.

UNESCO: Communication and Information