Job Discussion Forums

[Capergirl]

[Mark-O]

... and now the issue of HEIGHT!

I hear that the Dutch are a lofty lot and all of those I have met have been tall (as well as ultra-polite, charming and linguistically blessed). The Bolivians on the other hand - more specifically the native Andean people - were pint-sized in stature. I was told that this is due to the generations of inbreeding - the only means of procreation in their isolated communities.

The myth of asian men being notoriously short was shattered when I went to Japan. I saw hordes of men who were tipping the 6 foot mark.

[denise]

Capergirl--

Regarding Korean and Taiwanese women obsessing over their weight--I have seen a similar trend here. Women who are slender and petite by just about any definition of the words still think they need to lose weight?!?!

A female friend pointed out to me that the models/mannequins here do not look as abnormally thin as they do in the States. I suggested that it was because the people here are generally so thin that models actually reflect reality, instead of creating impossible standards.

d

[Lynn]

Americans are the fattest people. I'm 5'6" (166.2cm) and with the exception of pregnancy or thyroid, I will never let myself become fat. I've given myself a limit(144lbs). I'm nowhere near that now.

In Japan and Korea, I found many of my female friends/co-workers to be the same size as me. My feet were bigger though, 8.5 (25.5cm)

In the states, no one has every been envious of my figure becaue I have a flat bum.

[Will.]

Ireland was the place with the smallest, it was all those "little people".
America in the seventies was the place with the fattest people I was shocked at the size of them. The Uk is now approaching the same level as the Us was then.
Thailand seemed to have the happiest, nicest people.

[Shaman]

The problem with North America is the notion of consumerism. To consume - as much as one possibly can. The portions in a restaurant in North America usually border on the ridiculous notion that bigger is better. What a winning concept.

I don't put much stock in the notion of height/weight ratio either. There is a vast difference between obese weight vs. muscle mass weight. Many professional athletes would be considered overweight by these generalized measures.

Shaman

[lostinparis]

I've noticed there are also generational differences when it comes to height and size.

All the little vieux papies and vieilles mamies in France are really tiny little people. I'm 5'9" and I look like a giant next to most of them.

Also, all of my older Japanese relatives (grandparents, great aunts, uncles etc) from Japan are tiny people. But the new generation of Japanese in my family (most notably my two cousins who grew up with me in Los Angeles) are both over 6 feet.

Something has definitely changed in the diet to make people get so tall in two generations. Example: my Japanese grandmother is 5'2", her son (my uncle) is 5'8," his sons are 6'1" and 6'2." Wondering now what my cousins grandkids will look like! Maybe they can join the NBA.

[yaramaz]

I think someone mentionned this before but I will mention it again: here in Turkey, the women are really tiny. Small in stature, small in frame, small hands and feet... I am 5'7'' and I feel enormous. I am also the same height as many of my male friends as well, if not taller. Yes, the men are small too- looking at the guys walking down the street in their painted on jeans, I wonder where in those micro-hips they find space for the necessary internal organs.

However, a thing to note: the kids are getting fat. My students stuff themselves with fat and sugar during every break and sometimes during the lesson if I dont catch them. They dont get much exercise, aside from phys ed. class- they are bussed in and out of the suburbs where they live in vast concrete blocks of flats with very few if any parks or green space or playgrounds. They do homework and play video games all night and weekend. They hang out at McDonalds during their free time. I'm not sure they will be as small as the older generations.

I am Canadian... but I have never liked junk food and have always exercised (for my sanity, mostly). I am well within the 'normal' weight range for my height. And yet... I am still bigger (taller, larger frame, etc) than many of the the Turks who live on lots of oily fatty sugary food and live a sedentary lifestyle.

Maybe it is genetic, maybe it is cultural.

[Stephen Jones]

the main factor affecting height is nutrition in childhood. This explains the generational differences in Japan and Europe.

[Capergirl]

@Stephen Jones...I'm not sure I follow.

[yaramaz]

I believe he was referring to malnutrition in older generations which leads to stunted growth. Some of the older men and women here barely hit 5 feet in height. They grew up with more restricted access to nutritionally dense food, and certainly had no access to the excessive fats and proteins and simple sugars that their grandkids stuff themselves with. I heard this is similar to the elderly in Japan who endured years of hunger and deprivation. A more consistent, balanced diet leads to growth.

[Capergirl]

Thanks, Yaramaz. Got it now.

[Shaman]

I read somewhere that calcium (ie. dairy) is not overly abundant in the Asian diet either. Bone density, formation etc....

Shaman

[khmerhit]

A lot of children in Cambodia have copper tints in their hair, caused (I think) by iodine deficiency, or perhaps general malnutrition in infancy.
Since most kids are thjin, anyway, you can really pick out the ones who didnt have enought to eat.
kh