Belgian males world's second tallest
Research commissioned by eLife and undertaken at Imperial College London has revealed that Belgian men are the second tallest in the entire world. Belgian men are only pipped at the post by Dutchmen!
The research is based on data from 200 different country. The scientists compared this data with records dating from 1914 to discover how nations' average heights had developed over the last century. In all information on 18.6 million individuals was processed. Average height at the age of 18 was considered as this is when most people stop growing.
Majid Ezzati of Imperial says that average length gives a good indication of general health and health care, food and environment, but genes too play a role.
Behind Belgian men we find males from Estonia (3), Latvia (4) and Denmark (5). Among women Latvians are the tallest followed by Dutch women, women from Estonia, the Czech Republic and Serbia.