One can easily list out the stereotypes about Asians, for example, “Asians have dark-colored hair”, “Asians know kung fu”, etc. “Asians are short” is one of them. In France, you can easily hear people calling Asians “le petit chinois” (the little Chinese), “le petit japonais” (the little Japanese) and so on. But how true is this stereotype? Are Asians always short?
First of all, to avoid any confusion, when we talk about Asians, we normally mean Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai people, Koreans, etc. We rarely include the Middle Eastern countries in the Asian category, even though the Middle East is part of Asia too. I will do the same here. The term Asian that I will use in the following excludes the Middle East.
So, are Asians short? If I followed my personal experience, I would definitely answer yes. Last summer, I went back to my native country, Malaysia. I also spent almost 3 weeks in China, travelling during the summer. I measure 1.60m (5 ft 3 in) and I found myself “normal” amongst Malaysians and Chinese people, or at least not too short. However, when I came back to France afterwards… I really felt like a hobbit!
Let us have a look at some statistics. As with any statistical data, the accuracy of the following data may be questionable*:
Average height
Country Men Women
France 1.770m (5ft 8.5in) 1.646m (5ft 5in)
China 1.702m (5ft 7in) 1.586m (5ft 2.5in)
Japan 1.715m (5ft 7.5in) 1.580m (5ft 2in)
Malaysia 1.647m (5ft 5in) 1.533m (5ft 0.5in)
It is interesting to note that according to the same source, people in Dinaric Alps (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia…) have the highest average height: 1.856m for men and 1.711m for women. How about the record holders? The tallest man was Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918-1940) from the United States, who was 2.72m at the time of his death.* On the other hand, Asia holds the record of the shortest adult human. He is called Gul Mohammed from India with the height of 57cm!*
So, as we look through the statistics, we can eventually conclude that yes, Asians are generally short. But why? Why are Asians so short?
Is genetics a factor? Well, in Asian populations, the heritability of height is much lower than 80 percent. For instance, in 2004, Miao-Xin Li of Human Normal University in China and his team estimated a height heritability of 65 percent, based on a Chinese population of 385 families.**
If genetics is not the major factor, then the environmental factors are the most probable.
Statistics show that in regions of poverty or warfare, malnutrition during childhood or adolescence has a remarkable effect on our height. For example, in rural regions of China, a man’s average height is 1.663m, which is slightly shorter than the one in urban areas (1.702m).* Average height is increasingly used as a measure of quality of life because of this reason. In most parts of Europe, where people benefit from proper medical care and sufficient nutrition, the average height has a high increasing tendency. However in places where major malnutrition is reported, such as North Korea or portions of Africa, height evolution is severely disrupted.
Another factor that I notice personally is the type of food that we consume. In France, dairy products such as cheese, milk and yog(h)urt*** are easily accessible and relatively cheap. These products have high calcium and protein content, which play an essential role in growth.
In Malaysia, on the other hand, these products are more expensive than other food products. In France, you can get an one-liter pack of milk for only 0.50€, while in Malaysia, you have to pay at least RM 4.00 (Ringgit Malaysia) (around 1.00€) for the same thing.
Generally, people often take the fact of being short as a disadvantage. For those who are
sad about being short, there are however some positive aspects… Certain studies have suggested that shortness is associated with overall better-than-average health and longevity. Cancer risk has also been found to increase with height.
Asians may be short. But some world leaders are considered short too, such as Italian Silvio Berlusconi (1.65m), Russian Dmitri Medvedev (1.62m) or Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (1.57m***). And of course, let’s not forget, French may be tall… but they still need a short guy to lead their country…!
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height
**http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-much-of-human-height
***http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/18/world-leader-heights-tall#zoomedpicture
PhoeniXclusivE 