Are Asians shorter than Caucasians due to genetics or low-calorie, low-protein diet?

I am not asking out of morbid curiosity; got 2 mostly vegetarian boys. Asked by :-) 56 months ago Similar questions: Asians shorter Caucasians due genetics low calorie low protein diet Health > Fitness & Diet.

Similar questions: Asians shorter Caucasians due genetics low calorie low protein diet.

Not shorter. But neither are Asians taller. Asia covers two-thirds of the Earth's land area.

Asians include Persians, Kurds, Turks, Tajiks, Turcomen, Siberians, Bengalis, New Guineans, etc. You are probably thinking of Eastern Asians, which include Chinese, Koreans and Japanese. But China has at least twelve different ethnic groups.So you cannot make any generalization. People say that traditionally, Koreans were considered tall among East Asians.

But there are many short Koreans. But one generalization is possible, and that is younger people are taller than their parents, especially among immigrants. And that is the result of better diet.

So if somebody immigrates from a poorer country to a richer one, their children are often taller. You are seeing it now in Asian immigrants because they are relatively recent immigrants. If you could go back in time a little, you could see the same pattern in Irish, Italians, Germans, Poles, etc.

Your sons need protein, exercise, micronutrients, and tall parents. Asians are shorter than Caucasians due to a combination of factors. Dietary differences and American culture have influenced Asian-American growth rates so they tend to be taller than their non-American kin, but not necessarily (my adult Japanese-American nieces are both less than 5 feet tall).

Genetics plays an important role. Short parents have short children. Short populations tend to stay short.

China has a very diverse population and has elements of the population that are genetically tall. Growth hormone production ultimately controls height. If the gland that produces it is not functioning properly the result is someone who is very short or very, very tall.

This can be genetic recessive trait, it can be a genetic mutation, or it can be the result of disease or injury. Diet is also a factor. There growth can be inhibited by poor nutrition, simply not getting enough calories for growth, by not getting enough of specific substances such as calcium (most Asians are lactose intolerant meaning their consumption of milk and its calcium is low), or getting too much of other substances that can inhibit growth such as the isoflavones in soy.

Since the American Occupation of Japan after WWII the Japanese have been becoming taller on average because they have adopted some American foods and eating habits. Asian Americans also tend to be taller (and have increased risk of diabetes) due to changes to a more European diet. Economics is a factor.In poor countries people are more likely to be malnourished.

Malnourished people do not grow as well as well fed people. Excercise is a factor. Those who exercise during their teens tend to grow more than those who don't.

Our mixed race family includes a few Japanese and Caucasian men who are over 6 feet tall, one Japanese man and many Caucasian men who are 5 foot 10 or so, and Japanese men who are 5 foot 2. This is what Wikipedia says (I've included their explanation of how growth works as well):Race and heightEast Asian people, who once appeared to be inherently shorter, have been incrementally increasing in height with each new generationthrough dietary improvements, as seen in nations such as South Korea and some parts of the People's Republic of China. Some cases of malnutrition, still prevalent in developing nations such as North Korea, Vietnam, and some parts of the People's Republic of China, decrease the overall Asian growth rate.

The short stature of East Asians, and also many Southeast and South Asians, may also be contributed by micronutrient deficiency such as low calcium intake partially due to lactose intolerance in 90% of their adult population limited consumption of protein, iron,vitamin A, reduced vitamin D, partially from their nutrition; and also from their darker skin that synthesize vitamin D at a slower rate than Whites iodine, zinc, amongst many other nutritional deficiencies. Other factors, such as the consumption of large quantities of soy products which contains isoflavone may reduce growth rate. Lactose intolerance only affects 2% of Swedish and 5% of Northern European adults.

Thus, this might be an explanation for their relatively tall heightProcess of growthGrowth in stature, determined by its various factors, results from the lengthening of bones via cellular divisions chiefly regulated by somatotropin (human growth hormone (hGH)) secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Somatotropin also stimulates the release of another growth inducing hormone insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) mainly by the liver. Both hormones operate on most tissues of the body, have many other functions, and continue to be secreted throughout life; with peak levels coinciding with peak growth velocity, and gradually subsiding with age after adolescence.

The bulk of secretion occurs in bursts (especially for adolescents) with the largest during sleep. Exercise promotes secretion.(indeed, adolescents who take steroids can experience stunted growth). A positive net nutrition is also important, with proteins and various other nutrients especially important.

The majority of linear growth occurs as growth of cartilage at the epiphysis (ends) of the long bones which gradually ossify to form hard bone. The legs compose approximately half of adult human height, and leg length is a somewhat sexually dimorphic trait. Height is also attained from growth of the spine, and contrary to popular belief, men are the "leggier" gender with a longer leg to torso ratio, conversely to women's longer torso to leg ratio.

(The illusion of the proportion being the other way around is caused by fatty deposits placed high on women's hips. ) Some of this growth occurs after the growth spurt of the long bones has ceased or slowed. The majority of growth during growth spurts is of the long bones.

Additionally, the variation in height between populations and across time is largely due to changes in leg length. The remainder of height consists of the cranium. Height is obviously sexually dimorphic and statistically it is more or less normally distributed, but with heavy tails.

Height abnormalitiesMost intra-population variance of height is genetic. Short stature and tall stature are usually not a health concern. If the degree of deviation from normal is significant, hereditary short stature is known as familial short stature and tall stature is known as familial tall stature.

Confirmation that exceptional height is normal for a respective person can be ascertained from comparing stature of family members and analyzing growth trends for abrupt changes, among others. There are, however, various diseases and disorders that cause growth abnormalities. Most notably, extreme height may be pathological, such as gigantism (very rare) resulting from childhood hyperpituitarism, and dwarfism which has various causes.

Rarely, no cause can be found for extreme height; very short persons may be termed as having idiopathic short stature. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003 approved hGH treatment for those 2.25 standard deviations below the population mean (approximately the lowest 1.2% of the population). An even rarer occurrence, or at least less used term and recognized "problem", is idiopathic tall stature.

If not enough growth hormone is produced and/or secreted by the pituitary gland, then a patient with growth hormone deficiency can undergo treatment. This treatment involves the injection of pure growth hormone into thick tissue to jump-start the growth process. Role of an individual's heightTallness has been suggested to be associated with better cardio-vascular health and overall better-than-average health and longevity (Njolstad et al.

1996,26 McCarron et al 200227). However, height may not be causative of better health and longevity (Miura et al.2002). Other studies have found no association, or suggest that shorter stature is associated with better health (Samaras & Elrick, 199928).

On the other hand, being excessively tall can cause various medical problems, including cardiovascular issues, due to the increased load on the heart to supply the body with blood, and issues resulting from the increased time it takes the brain to communicate with the extremities. For example, Robert Wadlow, the tallest man known to verifiable history, developed walking difficulties as his height continued to increase throughout his URL2 many of the pictures of the later portion of his life, Wadlow can be seen gripping something for support. Late in his life he was forced to wear braces on his legs and to walk with a cane, and he died after developing an infection in his legs because he was unable to feel the irritation and cutting caused by his leg braces (it is important to note that he died in 1940, before the widespread use of modern antibiotics).

Height extremes of either excessive tallness or shortness can cause social exclusion and discrimination for both men and women (heightism). Epidemiological studies have also demonstrated a positive correlation between height and intelligence. The reasons for this association appear to include that height serves as a biomarker of nutritional status or general mental and physical health during development, that common genetic factors may influence both height and intelligence, and that both height and intelligence are affected by adverse early environmental exposures.

World-wide height measurements can be found in a table at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height .

" "Need recommendation of a good cookbook for low fat, low calorie diet. Any suggestions?" "What are some good options for a low calorie snack for a person on a diet? " "How can I remain on a ultra low calorie diet, and still enjoy normal family foods?

Need recommendation of a good cookbook for low fat, low calorie diet. Any suggestions?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.