Gert Stulp, a Dutch Doctor has been doing studies on why is native Dutch citizens are so tall. The doctor himself stand 6 feet, 7 inches tall. The reason for these studies is to find out why the Dutch are currently on average the tallest people on the world when only a 150 years ago they were shorter. As of 1860 the average solider was only 5 feet 5 inches and Americans were taller by 2.7 inches. The interesting fact is that since 1860 the average height in many parts of the world have increased but, the Dutch have grown significantly. Dutch citizens are on average 6 feet tall now. In the United States citizens have stopped growing taller but, the Dutch continue to grow.
There are a few factors that are more obvious to why they continue to grow. The Dutch diet has changed for the better and there medical care is a lot better. However, Dr. Stulp and his colleagues have found evidence through there studies that evolution is also contributing to them being taller. The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences published that a medical database has been established in the Netherlands called LifeLines which provides genetic profiles and medical records on about tens of thousands of Dutch families. The study done by Dr. Stulp and his colleagues analyzed data on 42,612 men and women over age 45. The data they were looking at was the height of there subjects and how many children they had.
The research showed taller Dutch men had more children than those of average or lower than average height. The Article states, " Among those born in the early 1950s, for example, men who were 5 feet 6 inches had on average 2.15 children. Men who were 6 feet 1 inch had 2.39 children. The scientists found that the trend toward taller men having more children persisted for more than 35 years." Women had a more complex pattern. Overall, Dutch women of average height had more children. However, taller women were taking longer to have children which caused these averages. Once at childbearing age taller women had more children at a faster rate than shorter women.
These numbers were studied by Dr. Stulp who believes that environmental factors cause some Dutch people both to grow tall and with more children. An example used was those who were wealthier had higher average heights. Dr. Stulp and his colleagues applied many factors by controlling how rich theirs subjects were and other variables, like education. He suspects genes are involved. Under the same conditions some people will grow taller than others because of certain genetic variations. Dr. Stulp and his colleagues are gathering more data, analyzing heights of parents and their children ion the Netherlands. He hopes to determine how much of increase in height is a result of natural selection. I found this article very interesting because it is important to know how much influence natural selection and evolution effect us as human beings. Therefore, by simply changing our diets, education, and who we reproduce with can ultimately change the genetic make up of people on earth.
Natural Selection May Help Account for Dutch Height Advantage
Evolutionary Battle of the Sexes Drives Human Height
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