Changes in Relative Height of Children in Northeast Asian Countries in Fifty Years Since 1960 | Biomedgrid

Economies in Northeast Asia made rapid and steady progress in the past half century, since 1960. Food consumption improved remarkably. Total calorie intakes increased first, followed by steady increments in animal sourced foods. Children became appreciably taller in height. In the mid-2000s, teens in South Korea were the tallest, 3cm taller than their Japanese and Taiwanese peers. In terms of per capita consumption of animal products, S. Korea was apparently the lowest. Genetics, however, fails to explain. A century ago, young men in Korea were 2 cm taller than Japanese but 3 cm shorter than Taiwanese. Since the mid-1970s, S. Koreans have been taking 2-300 kcal/day more overall food calories and twice as much vegetables than both Japanese and Taiwanese.