Abstract: The authors have studied the relationship between the length of the second metacarpal bone and the body height in 1468 healthy boys and girls (male of Tibetan 373, female 363; male of Han nationality 368, female 364) of 7 to 18 years old. All of them were born and lived at the altitude of 3000-4000 metres above sea level at the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, China.
The results indicate that the growth rate of the length of the second metacarpal bone and the height during adolescence is almost parallel All the correlation coefficients between them are positive (0.44-0.89, P<0.05), most are high (>0.60). Since all the indices between the length of the second metacarpal bone and the height are rather constant, the estimation of the height by measuring the length of the second metacarpal bone is feasible. This article provides the regression equations on estimating the height for the children and adolescent in this region.

Key words: Length of second metacarpal bone; Height