# Nationalities that are smaller in size **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148 "2016-06-11T21:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/1 "2016-06-11T21:37:54Z")
Why do some countries have smaller people. Is it all to do with nutrition, disease and harsh conditions? Did these reasons over ride genetics or is it all in the genes. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/2 "2016-06-11T22:38:57Z")
A bit of both. Certainly some ethnic groups average smaller in size for genetic reasons. However, average height in many countries has increased dramatically in the past century due to better nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/3 "2016-06-11T22:40:05Z")
My hometown in Nebraska got lots of Vietnamese refugees after the war. The children of the immigrants tower over their parents. I’m guessing it’s diet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/4 "2016-06-11T22:44:03Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > My hometown in Nebraska got lots of Vietnamese refugees after the war. The children of the immigrants tower over their parents. I’m guessing it’s diet. Are those children the same height as the white or black kids (whites and blacks have pretty much the same average height in the US)? I doubt it, so it’s both. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/5 "2016-06-11T22:47:45Z")
[Here’s a lot of data on human height and how it has changed over time and between countries.](https://ourworldindata.org/human-height/) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/6 "2016-06-11T22:53:29Z")
To show the effects of malnutrition on height on populations with little to no genetic differences see the height difference between [North Korea](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17774210) and South Korea; North Korean men are on average 1.2 - 3.1in shorter, children are smaller than their southern counterparts too. On the epigenetic side of things, the effects of the Dutch _Hongerwinter_, the famine of 1944-45 are still being felt due to the [effect malnutrition](http://www.news.leiden.edu/news/dutch-hunger-winter.html) has on a developing fetus; "_It now appears that the limited food intake of mothers who were pregnant during this period altered the genetic material of embryos in the early stages of development. The effects of this can still be observed some sixty years later."_ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/7 "2016-06-11T22:56:09Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > My hometown in Nebraska got lots of Vietnamese refugees after the war. The children of the immigrants tower over their parents. I’m guessing it’s diet. My workout partner is Vietnamese, and he is one of the most muscular guys I’ve ever met. My guess is that an American diet has a lot to do with that… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nationalities-that-are-smaller-in-size/757148/8 "2016-06-11T23:05:59Z")
I thought this thread would be about places like Liechtenstein, Monaco and Tuvalu.