Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajosshi]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/02/01/2012020100922.html

Modern Koreans Much Taller Than Ancestors

Korean men were on average 161.1 cm tall and women 148.9 cm between the 15th and 19th centuries, anatomists at Seoul National University have found. Hwang Young-il and Shin Dong-hun based their analysis of the remains of 116 adults -- 67 men and 49 women.

That was over 10 cm shorter than the average height of modern Korean men (174 cm) and women (160.5 cm) established in 2010 by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.

It was also up to 10 cm shorter than contemporaries in Sweden, the U.K. and the Netherlands. During that period, the average height of Americans was 173.4 cm. But the Koreans were taller than their Japanese contemporaries, who stood between 154.7 and 155.1 cm, the study added.

The study estimated the heights based on the ratio of the length of thighbones to full height.

The study was carried in the 2012 issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Koreans' average height grew remarkably as the country achieved industrialization in the 20th century, Hwang said.

[email protected] / Feb. 01, 2012 10:02 KST

[Mix1]

No doubt. They seem taller on average than even a few years ago. The latest crop of teens and young adults seem like a foot taller than the older ajossis. And the ones from wealthy areas/schools seem taller than the poorer ones.

I know they eat well and have free milk in school and eat more western food now, but has anyone heard about growth hormone treatments? Saw some ads for them a few years back and a Korean explained them as a trend because certain parents didn't want short kids. Just curious, I know they have some height in their genetics, but it's such a huge difference in a short time.

Visited a rich high school and it looked like half the students in the hall were well over 6 feet. I remarked about it to a teacher and she acted almost defensive: "We take care of our kids."

[Dodge7]

I doubt many parents do the growth hormone treatments.
I think it is a result of the diets being better now as compared to the last century.

[12ax7]

Well, we've known for quite a long time that starvation and diseases are limiting factors. But, yes, recent changes in Korean society, namely access to medical care and improved nutrition, have allowed most Koreans to reach their full genetic potential.

As for the hormone therapy, it is fairly popular nowadays. Recent research has shown that kids who have lower than normal levels of HGH can benefit from weekly injections without any negative consequences.

[The Floating World]

No real news here. In all photos of my great grandparents - everyone is shorter. People used to be shorter everywhere in a lot of countries (not all.)

[Mix1]

[Rteacher]

I think that there's probably a correlation with the amount of milk consumed from cows treated with growth hormones.

[Joe Boxer]

[Mix1]

[warmachinenkorea]

Standard of living improvement does many things for our bodies.