According to the largest-ever global study of height, Estonian men and women are the third tallest people in the world.
The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and based on data from most countries worldwide, tracked the height of young adult men and women between 1914 and 2014.
The four tallest countries for men are the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Latvia. For women, the top four are Latvia, the Netherlands, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
In 1914, Estonian women had an average height of 157 cm; by 2014, this had risen to 169 cm. The average height of Estonian men was 167 cm a hundred years ago, increasing to 180 cm in 2014.
In 2014, men from East Timor were the shortest in the world, with an average height of 160 cm, while the shortest women were from Guatemala, with an average height of 149 cm.
The nations with the tallest men in 2014 (1914 ranking in brackets)
- Netherlands (12)
- Belgium (33)
- Estonia (4)
- Latvia (13)
- Denmark (9)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (19)
- Croatia (22)
- Serbia (30)
- Iceland (6)
- Czech Republic (24)
The nations with the tallest women in 2014 (1914 ranking in brackets)
- Latvia (28)
- Netherlands (38)
- Estonia (16)
- Czech Republic (69)
- Serbia (93)
- Slovakia (26)
- Denmark (11)
- Lithuania (41)
- Belarus (42)
- Ukraine (43)
Being tall = success?
“How tall we grow is strongly influenced by nutrition and environmental factors, although genetics may also play a part. Children and adolescents who are better nourished and grow up in healthier environments tend to be taller, and height may even be affected by a mother’s health and nutrition during pregnancy. This has lifelong consequences for health, as well as for education and earnings,” the scientists said in the study, adding that some research suggests taller people tend to live longer, attain a better education and earn more.
“This study gives us a picture of the health of nations over the past century and reveals that the average height in some countries may even be shrinking, while people in others continue to grow taller. This confirms that we urgently need to address the environment and nutrition of children and adolescents on a global scale, and ensure that we give the world’s children the best possible start in life,” said the lead researcher, Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial College’s School of Public Health.
However, the research also noted that being tall may carry certain health risks, as some studies have linked height to an increased risk of certain cancers, including ovarian and prostate cancer.
In 2014, the difference in average height between the tallest and shortest countries was about 23 cm for men – 4 cm greater than the gap recorded in 1914. For women, the difference between the world’s tallest and shortest countries remained broadly unchanged over the century, at around 20 cm.
The average height difference between men and women also remained largely stable over the past 100 years: it was about 11 cm in 1914 and 12 cm in 2014.
The research found that South Korean women and Iranian men recorded the greatest increases in height over the past century.
Europeans are the tallest
Overall, the ten tallest nations in 2014, for both men and women, were dominated by European countries, with no English-speaking nation appearing in the top ten. Australian men were the only non-European nationality to feature among the world’s 25 tallest.
“Our study also shows that the English-speaking world, especially the United States, is falling behind other high-income nations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Taken together with these countries’ poor performance on obesity, this underlines the need for more effective policies to promote healthy nutrition throughout life,” Ezzati said.
The research team included almost 800 scientists and carried out the study in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.
so interesting !!