# asian body temperature **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098 "2002-08-15T21:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/1 "2002-08-15T21:52:26Z")
My Japanese girlfriend tells me that Asians have a lower body temperature than honkies. Is this true? Sounds like a lot of hooey to me, but who knows? Perhaps someone here does! RK ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/2 "2002-08-15T22:57:38Z")
Human average body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Period. It’s up to your girlfriend to provide a cite, methinks. And why exactly would Asians have a lower average body temperature, anyway? What possible environmental or evolutionary factors would predispose them to this? And, define “Asians”. Are you including Japanese, Chinese, Turkmenistanis, Tibetans? Or just “Orientals”? “Asia” is a big place. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/3 "2002-08-15T23:45:31Z")
Well, not my girlfriend. She makes me sweat, and I don’t mean that in a lascivious way. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/4 "2002-08-16T06:31:41Z")
Actually, I think that average human body temperature is 98.2°F, but from my searching, it appears controversial. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/5 "2002-08-16T06:59:29Z")
What body temperature is depends on where it is measured. Under the tongue is different from rectal. But irrespective of such differences I suspect that the range of Oriental body temperatures is the same as anyones’, anywhere, any time. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/6 "2002-08-16T11:01:43Z")
Apparently, at one time in the rather recent past some Japanese authors have claimed that Japanese are slightly different biologically from the rest of the human race. I can’t find a cite, but IIRC it’s been claimed that the Japanese digestive tract is X amount longer than those found throughout the rest of the world, with the implication that the Japanese is more “efficient” and thus arguably superior. Perhaps the OP’s comapnion had heard this type claim indirectly and accepts it as “fact”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/7 "2002-08-16T13:25:26Z")
Odd thing is, I don’t know anyone who actually has a body temp of 98.6. (OK, I suppose this isn’t that odd, since it’s an average, but I don’t know anyone who normally has a body temp of higher than 98.6) Mine is normally around 98.2, as per Achenar’s statement. All my relatives and friends seem to be below 98.6. It seems suspect that the temperature in Celsius corresponds to exactly 37 degrees, so I’m willing to wager there’s been some rounding-off involved. I can swear I read a study recently claiming the actual average human body temperature is closer to Achenar’s numbers, but I can’t find it anywhere. Sorry for the absolutely speculative answer, devoid of hard facts and solid cites. ---
**Author:** ![Sakurako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Sakurako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakurako)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/8 "2002-08-16T13:31:04Z")
I dont have a link, but it is common knowledge in Japan, that we Japanese have a slightly lower body temperature than other ethnic groups. Instead of 98.6, ours is about 98. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/9 "2002-08-16T13:31:04Z")
Wait…got it. Here’s the [url=“[http://www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&uid=92389405&Dopt=r](http://www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&uid=92389405&Dopt=r)”]JAMA report, with the snappy title: “A critical appraisal of 98.6 degrees F, the upper limit of the normal body temperature, and other legacies of Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich.”[/url.] ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/10 "2002-08-16T13:37:36Z")
[^$@%!#^!%!](http://www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&uid=92389405&Dopt=r) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/11 "2002-08-16T13:59:29Z")
Sakurako, “common knowledge” doesn’t count, sorry. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mikan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mikan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/12 "2002-08-16T15:46:36Z")
In Japan people usually (from my experience) take their temperature by placing the thermometer in their armpit. This gives a lower reading (by about half a degree C, from my experience) than you get by sticking the thermometer under your tongue. I think that just possibly might have something to do with the “common knowledge” about Japanese having a different body temp from the rest of mankind (i.e., Americans). ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/13 "2002-08-16T16:20:21Z")
FWIW, whenever I go see a doctor, my usual thermometer-under-tongue reading comes to around 97.5. I’m plain caucasian heritage though, so that doesn’t help **Sakurako’s** claim any. I think I’m just anomalous. ---
**Author:** ![mikan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mikan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/14 "2002-08-16T18:27:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JCHeckler \* > **Apparently, at one time in the rather recent past some Japanese authors have claimed that Japanese are slightly different biologically from the rest of the human race.** There have been all kinds of crackpot theories about how Japanese differ from other people, and these frequently assume that there is some uniquely Japanese essence that is ultimately a product of nature (biology, geography, climate, etc.). These theories became especially popular in the 1970s and 80s, following the Japanese “economic miracle” and the national pride that came with it, but they go back much further than this and they continue to inform common sense here in Japan. So, grain of salt and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/15 "2002-08-16T18:35:36Z")
The funny thing is there really is no native Japanese _per se_. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/16 "2002-08-17T08:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mikan \* > \*\* > There have been all kinds of crackpot theories about how Japanese differ from other people, and these frequently assume that there is some uniquely Japanese essence that is ultimately a product of nature (biology, geography, climate, etc.). These theories became especially popular in the 1970s and 80s, following the Japanese “economic miracle” and the national pride that came with it, but they go back much further than this and they continue to inform common sense here in Japan. > > So, grain of salt and all that. \*\* Yet another belief often cited to support these crackpot theories: many Japanese believe that the average gestation among Japanese is slightly longer than for non-Japanese - 10 months vs. 9 months. 'Course, this is pretty easily debunked when you consider that they’re talking about 10 LUNAR months - or 280 days, more or less. Same as in the west, but counted as 9 months by the Julian calendar. I think my grandmother still believes she carried her kids just a little longer, tho… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-body-temperature/124098/17 "2002-08-20T11:16:20Z")
I e-mailed Dr. Mackowiak, the person who did the study published in JAMA that suggested the actual mean body temperature is 98.2 rather than 98.6. I asked him whether he has any data or knows of any data which compares body temperatures based on geography (European vs. Asian, for example), race (Caucausoid vs. Mongoloid vs. Negroid) or any other distinctions which may be relevant to this claim. His response: > [@](#): > > Dear Peter, > I’m reasonably certain that there are no data pertaining to your question. > I have been interested in the question you raise myself and scan the fever > literature regularly. I have yet to find any publication addressing your > area of interest. > Phil Mackowiak