美国有许多摩天大楼、国民平均所得高，但讲到身高，欧洲小国荷兰硬把美国比下去，平均身高达6呎1寸 (185.4厘米)堪称巨人国，荷兰政府还因国民身高大幅提升，更改建筑物门高规定。# W$ U; T: S+ G( X% F$ }
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日本人有「长」进 跃升170.2 - C3 z) i' k' `( ]( q: p5 T" f7 p0 o2 ?
荷兰人以超过185厘米的身高睥睨全球，北欧丹麦以182.8厘米紧追在后，其次是177.8厘米的美国。以往较矮的日本人身高已经大跃进，现在平均170.2厘米，而且继续快速赶上西方国家。4 Y8 w/ r) j1 g
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荷改规定 门不得低于234cm + u' E7 c- D @& {% z5 [0 }, c! f( D' U: z8 s" E
荷兰人一代比一代高，古迹的门高可以当见证。180几厘米的高个子到17世纪的古迹，进门时非得弯腰低头不可。荷兰现在规定，住家和营业场所的门高不得低于234厘米。 ( o+ o2 ^. j* l, A- R8 Q" K z, r8 R) l0 U* l* z7 g8 p国民平均身高高人一等，不是比较有面子而已，而是反映国家医疗系统和营养比较好。 1 A1 H5 _3 ]2 r; W( ~/ l( S1 q" ~2 K- m* u4 N' g. O7 s
国力指针 罗马人曾是最高的 ! G' l. g, D' S2 E: ] G5 W, q y+ D历史学家指出，一个国家的整体医疗、营养、生活水准、基因上的优劣，可以从国民身高看出端倪。罗马帝国高峰期，罗马人是世界上最高的人，美国人则在拓荒时期开端大幅「长进」，身高位居世界第一长达两百年，但最近几年身高排名每下愈况，离平均身高第一的国家愈来愈远。现在，换荷兰人和斯堪地纳维亚半岛人让外国人仰望。 * t! u; X5 d9 b2 o+ @5 k: s6 d' x' ^
医疗营养好 身体壮壮有原因 * Y3 T" j8 i p& C2 S% u8 o/ g $ C/ T% l4 I. d1 Q, c科学家表示，荷兰人长得高，要归功医疗保健系统和全民饮食营养好。荷兰的医疗系统完善，特别是怀孕期和婴儿期的照顾，先天、后天条件好，自然身体壮壮。美国的高所得者当然身材高大，但经济较弱势的族群身高较矮，把全民平均身高往下拉，况且美国人身材往横发展的幅度大于向上。美国人吃太多，所以太早分泌太多生长荷尔蒙，以致过早停止发育。荷兰人虽然摄取大量牛奶和乳酪，却未吃过头。4 q' e. q+ M/ a; z( q
4 M- T$ r7 \" a. w凡高170 百余年前很标准 & P! q U1 c z& `2 x/ M d : N* S7 B1 G0 ^5 }4 @0 n绘画大师凡高1890年死时身高170厘米，这个高度正是当时荷兰人的平均身高，比起当今荷兰长人俱乐部会长范史普伦德简直是矮子。范史普伦德210.8厘米，他表示，荷兰人平均身高每10年增加两厘米。2 E6 I% q) k, M, J/ T% Z
4 A! E. K n( D) m2 b7 U% Y你羡慕荷兰人长得高吗？女童布丽特才7岁，已经快158厘米，医师预测，她大概可长到203厘米。布丽特的母亲考虑让她接受荷尔蒙治疗，以免她长太高。+ g2 t" X" a* {$ Y2 R3 H
# u) W7 ]: \6 M5 V, M9 t/ PLand of the Giants: Dutch Tower over Americans; a0 I$ } G- t3 e3 N. J4 y
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Some See Height Tied to Nation's Health 4 h- q$ {% m3 ]3 Q5 x$ z% P# ^: \; q% k- b# F4 z
March 31, 2007 — When you think tall, you probably think America. Tallest buildings. Tallest athletes. Tallest population. H V$ \/ {7 n/ H , D' T3 @1 J0 r1 L8 g/ ~But no longer. Today, to find the world's tallest people, you have to look beyond the windmills, wooden shoes, and wheels of cheese … to tiny Holland.: z1 K6 P! G! N$ O$ ]/ L4 o. n
2 }* ~9 |) w/ j% r+ gThat's right. The Dutch. And they're not just taller than us, they're towering over us. ' o" V. y7 R; a( H3 S% W5 h ' I& k( E) Q% Q" t1 p2 a! U3 d, }0 WIn Amsterdam, even at six-foot-three, I had to get used to looking up, especially to the president of the Dutch Tall People's Club, six-foot-11 Paul van Sprundel. " n% b" T- M% w& D3 h( U7 }: w 2 v$ I2 r% D5 p8 u' [* | p' DWhen I asked Paul whether there's a part of him who looks down and says "Well, Holland is doing a lot better than America," he said without blinking an eye, "Well, a lot better. I don't know, but, you know, a lot of people from their own perspective, in their own country, say, 'I am tall,' and then they meet us and say, 'Whoa, you're really tall.'" 8 w+ S& P+ ~1 l- p0 a# f3 M ! P1 o1 I6 V( M7 q. `; u# T- aIt turns out Americans haven't been the tallest people in the world for nearly 50 years. And even worse, every year, we're falling shorter of the top.- U- G8 d% C0 y/ F: F% T h
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Today, the average Dutch man is six-foot-one, followed by the Danish, at six-feet. Americans measure up to just five-foot-10. Further behind, but catching up rapidly, are the Japanese, at about five-foot-seven. 3 W( b9 i$ z( ^4 a
) C" p, q( G$ h% P! QYou can see the growth of the Dutch etched into the architecture in Amsterdam. In buildings built in the 1600s, I can barely get through the door bending over.8 _( w8 D! b! y. K8 _ V, L
: o9 \) K, a- T w# q6 _9 ^But as the generations passed and the Dutch people grew, so did their doorways. Today, the new minimum required height for doorways to homes and businesses is seven feet, eight inches, which made me feel really short wherever I went. - F8 O" T' Y6 ` O; j' Y- z! q4 h- N7 S4 p) C, R2 U6 a
A nation's average height is about more than bragging rights. Historians have found height to be about the best single indicator of a nation's success, reflecting not just wealth but overall health and well-being. $ _9 e3 D( M) O6 d- o; d6 H
4 T- X: T0 Y( v a9 E. i; MProfessor George Maat of Holland's Leiden University has been tracing this back hundreds of years by looking at our ancestors' skeletons. 5 j$ n! ^8 X. w" K0 n4 Q/ m K0 a) n! t: } & l: k( R( L4 d" M- f A0 D' j! y"Health, nutrition, living conditions, genetics — everything at the end goes down to one thing that represents all of that, and that is stature," he said. "And I think that is the easiest parameter to use to follow the conditions people are living in."( R1 U* Z6 ?5 B% j- K
$ \6 r2 e9 G) I0 Y2 {3 w1 Z( NAnd so, at the height of the Roman empire, the Romans were the tallest in the world. The Americans led for about 200 years, really taking off during the frontier years. And now the Dutch and Scandinavians rule. - i3 R* V/ x/ X: S9 Z8 D1 w * o( m$ P1 X( uSo the question is, "What are they doing right?"2 x2 y. ` x$ v% L; ^+ Q
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Scientists have pinpointed two secrets to Holland's soaring population. $ v5 R: y- Q9 D/ Y e$ k
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First, the Dutch have some of the world's best healthcare, particularly at the stages of life that really make a difference for how tall we end up — prenatal and the early years of childhood. & R7 s4 c' a* j) Q
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Second, they spread the health around. The most well-off Americans are tall, but less-privileged groups across all races bring down the average. , S4 a( x" N! ~; z/ O
. ~5 r5 u- R2 b4 U" d h5 gOur waistbands drag us down, as well. By eating so much, we produce too much growth hormone, too early in our lives. And so we stop growing earlier than the Dutch, who eat lots of protein like milk and cheese, but not too much. ' J& A1 p. t8 p$ I7 h& ~3 a" T6 ?: c: v! e( y
Today, the Dutch are growing so fast, they're outgrowing their country. Paul van Sprundel has trouble fitting in — literally: He has trouble squeezing into cars, public trains and even today's doorways. ' @) F$ r5 P3 }( E' [ ) z/ S5 A& [) N) U0 W: QNext to him, that giant of Dutch history, the artist Vincent van Gogh, looks miniscule at five-seven, the average height when he died in 1890. D( k; x" N, `. |. ^+ y1 T) `- C4 Y0 [" `, O! `! y1 p9 s
"An awful lot has changed," said van Sprundel. "On average, every 10 years, we grow 2 centimeters — almost an inch." ! }* \9 h' B" j, N! R" l# m. I& f: s# ^( F9 c
For Agnes Brunninkhuis and her daughter Brit, it's all gone too far. Brit is already five-foot-two at the age of seven. When doctors said she could grow as tall as six-foot-eight, Agnes considered treating her with hormones to stem her growth. : q }' a" q) c) }* X% ~6 d( R' z( s. a7 e
"I try to protect her by explaining it's not bad to be tall," said Agnes Brunninkhuis. "You should walk up straight and everything. Luckily for her, life is different now. Now, you can buy bigger beds and larger clothing, and there are special shops." 5 R$ B+ Y. v* \( L & V1 V2 e; R( D5 E: m( _. aDespite the growing pains, it's nearly all good news for the Dutch. Tall people have lots of advantages: They earn more, they are elected more often, they are luckier at love and they live longer. That's another way America at number 28 in the world for life expectancy just doesn't measure up — certainly not to the soaring Dutch.
