Secular Changes in Relative Height of Children in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan: Is “Genetics” the Key Determinant? | Biomedgrid

At age 20 years, Korean men were recorded as being 2 cm taller than Japanese but 3 cm shorter than Taiwanese in the beginning of last century [1], when Korea and Taiwan were under Japan's colonization. These differences could have been attributed mostly to genetics. At the turn of the century, Japan's economy was the richest and Taiwan was 60% greater than S. Korea in per capita consumption of animal products. Yet Korean males were slightly, by 1-2 cm taller than their Taiwanese peers in height. Genetics was no longer a strong explanation of relative height. Following Blum [2], a high consumption of animal proteins does not result in increasing body height if overall consumption of calories and other essential nutrients is insufficient. This paper tries to identify what essential nutrients may have been insufficient in Japanese and Taiwanese food consumption, particularly among growing children.