Human Height - History of Human Height

History of Human Height

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Europeans in North America were far taller than those in Europe and were the tallest in the world. The original indigenous population of Plains Native Americans was also among the tallest populations of the world at the time. Several nations, including many nations in Europe, have now surpassed the US, particularly the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian nations. Now, the average height of White Americans is about the same as for the Europeans they are descended from.

In the late nineteenth century, the Netherlands was a land renowned for its short population, but today its population is among the world's tallest with young men averaging 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) tall. The tallest nation in the Europe is Montenegro, with young men averaging 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in), and young women averaging 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in).

In the South Pacific the height of the Samoan and Tongan populations have long been known for their great size and stature. Early descriptions from European explorers of these Polynesians, speak of their great size and physiques. In 2009 a survey by the University of Hawaii found that both islands had males averaging 1.8034 m (5 ft 11 in) tall, while immigrants descending from both nations equalled that of Dinarians and Dutch at 1.857 m (6 ft 1 in) tall. The reasons for this is believed that the Polynesians of Samoa and Tonga are truly genetically the largest people in the world. This is based on the fact that, though the environmental and dietary factors contribute to Dinarian and Dutch heights, this is not the case for the height of peoples of Samoan and Tongan heritage. This makes them one of the tallest peoples in the world and history, as the 9000 year old skeleton of the Kennewick man (also of Polynesian origin) was 1.778 m (5 ft 10 in) in height. The suspected reason for their great stature is due to a long practices of eugenics by selecting tall strong warriors as mates. Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu Tupou III the late former queen of Tonga was 1.905 m (6 ft 3 in) and Tui Manuʻa Elisala the king of the Samoan island of Manu'a was recorded as being 1.9812 m (6 ft 6 in) in height. Valerie Adams (formerly known as Valerie Vili); a reigning shot putter in women's Olympic champion and three-time World champion, two-time Commonwealth and World Indoor champion is 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) in height.

Average male height in impoverished Vietnam and North Korea remains comparatively small at 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) and 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in), respectively. Currently, young adult North Korean males are actually significantly shorter. This contrasts greatly with the extreme growth occurring in surrounding Asian populations with correlated increasing standards of living. Young South Koreans are about 12 cm (4.7 in) taller than their North Korean counterparts, on average. There is also an extreme difference between older North Koreans and young North Koreans who grew up during the famines of the 1990s–2000s. North Korean and South Korean adults older than 40, who were raised when the North and South's economies were about equal, are generally of the same average height.

In the early 1970s, when anthropologist Barry Bogin first visited Guatemala, he observed that Mayan Indian men averaged only 1.575 m (5 ft 2 in) in height and the women averaged 1.422 m (4 ft 8 in). Bogin took another series of measurements after the Guatemalan Civil War had erupted, during which up to a million Guatemalans had fled to the United States. He discovered that Mayan refugees, who ranged from six to twelve years old, were significantly taller than their Guatemalan counterparts. By 2000, the American Maya were 10.24 cm (4.03 in) taller than the Guatemalan Maya of the same age, largely due to better nutrition and access to health care. Bogin also noted that American Maya children had a significantly lower sitting height ratio, (i.e., relatively longer legs, averaging 7.02 cm (2.76 in) longer) than the Guatemalan Maya.