Human height is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body standing erect.
When populations share genetic background and environmental factors, average height is frequently characteristic within the group. Exceptional height variation (around 20% deviation from average) within such a population is sometimes due to gigantism or dwarfism, which are medical conditions caused by specific genes or endocrine abnormalities.
In regions of extreme poverty or prolonged warfare, environmental factors like chronic malnutrition during childhood or adolescence may account for delayed growth and/or (in severe cases) marked reductions in adult stature even without the presence of any of these medical conditions.
Read more about Human Height: Determinants of Growth and Height, Process of Growth, Height Abnormalities, History of Human Height, Average Height Around The World
Famous quotes containing the words human and/or height:
“Doubtless, we are as slow to conceive of Paradise as of Heaven, of a perfect natural as of a perfect spiritual world. We see how past ages have loitered and erred. “Is perhaps our generation free from irrationality and error? Have we perhaps reached now the summit of human wisdom, and need no more to look out for mental or physical improvement?” Undoubtedly, we are never so visionary as to be prepared for what the next hour may bring forth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Men often treat others worse than they treat themselves, but they rarely treat anyone better. It is the height of folly to expect consideration and decency from a person who mistreats himself.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)