Human Height And Demographic Research

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.[1]
In regions of poverty or warfare, environmental factors like chronic malnutrition during childhood or adolescence may account for delayed growth and/or marked reductions in adult stature even without the presence of any of these medical conditions.
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1 Determinants of
Growth has long been recognized as a measure of the health of individuals, hence part of the reasoning for the use of growth charts. For individuals, as indicators of health problems, growth trends are tracked for significant deviations and growth is also monitored for significant deficiency from genetic expectations. Genetics is a major factor in determining the height of individuals, though it is far less influential in regard to populations. Average height is relevant to the measurement of the health and wellness (standard of living and quality of life) of populations.[2] Attributed as a significant reason for the trend of increasing height in parts of Europe are the egalitarian populations where proper medical care and adequate nutrition are relatively equally distributed.[3] Changes in diet (nutrition) and a general rise in quality of health care and standard of living are the cited factors in the Asian populations. Average height in the United States has remained essentially stagnant since the 1950s even as the racial and ethnic background of residents has shifted. Malnutrition including chronic undernutrition and acute malnutrition is known to have caused stunted growth in various populations.[4] This has been seen in North Korean, portions of African, certain historical European, and other populations.[5] Developing countries such as Guatemala have rates of stunting in children under 5 living as high as 82.2% in Totonicapán,
Meanwhile, in many sports taller people have a major advantage. They include certain professional sports (see section "Sports"), fashion modelling, etc. In most occupational fields, body height is not relevant to how well people are able to perform. A correlation has been found between body height and occupational success in several studies, although there may be other factors such as gender or socioeonomic status that may have been influencing the subjects ' heights as well as their occupational