Gert Stulp is a 6’ 7” tall Dutchman, and he
studies why his fellow Dutch people are so tall. The Dutch average to be the
tallest people on Earth with the current average height to be over 6ft tall.
Since 1860, the Dutch have increased their average height rate the most while
the average height has stagnated. Scientists are trying to understand Dutch’s
rapid average height increase. They believe that it is due to the Dutch’s
better diet and medical care. However, evidence might suggest that evolution is
an aid in their growth. This study was made possible by gathering figures from
LifeLines, a medical database where it contained the genetic and medical
information on ten of thousands of Dutch families. The study analyzed about
43,000 men and women over age 45. Dr Stulp analyzed the height in correlation
to the number of children, and the results were that taller than average Dutch
men had more children than average height men. It is a continued trend that
taller men had more children. Dr. Stulp explained that the height patterns for
the Dutch were diverse; therefore, this indicates that the environmental factor
caused some Dutch people to grow taller and have more children. Dr. Stulp also
tested another factor of the study where they controlled the wealth and
education of a subject to compare the height and children. In the same
situation, some people are taller since they have a specific genetic code. Dr.
Stulp continues to research how much of the height increase is a natural
selection result. The most crucial thing is that scientists can find the differences
of population evolution in many ways.
It is interesting that the Netherlands used to be shorter than the average Americans. It is crazy to think that the average height for a Dutchman is 6 foot. Height is normally due to a genetics code, so it is interesting to correlate the height to the number of children.
Original: Link1
Supplement: Link2
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