Eiji TAKAHASHI - jstage.jst.go.jp

人類誌 J.Anthrop.Soc.Nippon79(3):259-286 (1971)

Geographic Distribution of Human Stature

and Environmental Factors-An Ecologic Study

Eiji TAKAHASHI

Department of Hygiene,

Tohoku University School of Medicine

Abstract Stature of Asian peoples in 6 different regions was studied based on the data in MARTIN-SALLER's textbook of anthropology. Peoples are found

taller in inland Asia in the middle latitude and in Northwest India, where the climate is rather dry and the land is mostly a desert, steppe or cool highland

on which most people lead a nomadic or settled pastoral life. Rice cultivating

peoples in Southeast Asia are relatively short. In East Africa, nomadic or pastoral tribes are taller than plant cultivators and collecting and hunting tribes.

Correlation coefficients of nations' stature with national average food supplies in 16 European countries are found significant positive with milk and milk

products as well as with potatoes and other starchy roots, sugar and syrups, etc. Geographic distribution of stature in France and Spain seems to be related to geology. Geology seemed to effect geographic distribution of stature through

drinking water.

INTRODUCTION

In continuous populations of large land

areas of the Northern Hemisphere, includ-

ing China and Europe, there is a gradient

from larger mean stature in the north to

smaller in the south, as LASKER (1969)

stated. Such inclination of stature dis-

tribution might be genetically interpreted

on one side, but it should be considered

that subjects of measurement are not

genotypes but phenotypes and environ-

mental factors are usually different by

race.

In the present paper, at first, geographic

distribution of stature of Asian peoples

is analyzed in reference to regional diffe-

rences, according to the data in MARTIN-

SALLER's textbook of anthropology. Then,

the stature of East African tribes is

compared in reference to their subsistence

economy. In the last chapter,stature of

16 European countries is discussed in

correlation with national food supplies

Relation of statured is tribution with

geology and mineral content of river

water is considered within France and

Spain.

1.GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

OF STATURE IN ASIA

In Asia there are many peoples of

260 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 1, Global distribution of human stature (after MARTIN-SALLER, 1959) ,

different origins. However, the author

tried to examine the relation between

adult stature and environmental factors

without preconception of genetical diffe-

rence.

The global distribution of human sta-

ture is shown in the ma pof STRUCK (Fig.

1), in MARTIN-SALLER's Lehrbuch der An-

thropologie. Observing the map, one may

notice that in Asia stature distribution

seems to make zonal arrange-ment from

north to south. In the Arctic Zone the

native inhabitants seem to be shorter

(1.53-1.57m or 1.48-1.52m), in the sub-arctic a little taller than the former

(1.58-1.62m), and still taller peoples

distribute in the region about 50*N lati-

tude and below, and the areas of the

tallest peoples spot one in Mongolia and

the other in Central Asia from northern

India to the Caspian Sea. The wide band

of the stature distribution of the taller

peoples ranges from Manchuria to Central

China in the east end, extending to the

western borderline of Asia. In the south-

eastern part of the continent and the

islands, the stature is rather short (1 .58-

1.62m), and in many spots much shorter

stature (1.53-1.57m) is found.

From the table of adult stature of

various groups of peoples of the world in

MARTIN-SALLER's anthropological text-

book, data of Asian peoples are picked up

and rearranged in some groups by region.

Although most data lack in the number

of examinees, the standard deviation of

mean stature and the year of survey, the

data is used for this study, because no

other appropriate data was found.

1. Stature of peoples in India and the

neighborhood

At first, geographic distribution of

Geographic Distribution of Stature and Environmental Factors 261

stature in India and the neighborhood

is examined, as there is a variety of

stature. It is well-known among anth-

ropologists that in India there is a grad-

ient of stature distribution from north-

west to east and south, as BUCHI (1968)

recently indicated.

Table 1 shows data of stature in India

and the neighborhood from MARTIN-

SALLER's textbook. Although brahman

and rajput mean higher caste in India,

inhabitants in Rajasthan, Punjab, Kash-

mir and Balchistan are generally taller

than peoples in other regions. The reason

why these peoples are taller than the

others in India, should be considered from

not only genetical but also environmental

viewpoint.

Table 2 shows the values of climate

elements in various regions of India and

the neighboring countries. As is seen in

the data of humidity and precipitation,

the climate of West India and Pakistan

is dry compared to that of East India,

Burma, South India and Ceylon. In these

hot, rainy and humid regions, rice is

cultivated as staple food to support dense

population. But in dry area such as West India peoples can not yield much agricul-

tural products and they subsist by cattle

breeding. There seems to be many nomads

living near the border of Afghanistan,

Pakistan and Iran.

While in the eastern and southern India,

Burma and Ceylon peoples take much rice

as staple food, in the northwestern regions

peoples take much more dairy food. In the study in Japan the author (TAKAHASHI,

1966) found that the growth of school boys

and girls mainly related to the consump-

tion of milk products rather than that of

rice and other foods.

Jungle tribes such as Bhil, Kadir and

Panvan in the South India as well as

Vedda mostly subsist by hunting and

collecting and are shorter in stature.

Probably their nutrition is not in satis-

factory condition.

2. Stature of Asian peoples in the high

latitudes

In the high latitudes of Asia there

inhabit many peoples who seem to belong

to Palaeoasiatics, Ural-Altaics and Indo-

Europeans as shown in Table 3. The

arctic and subarctic peoples such as

Eskimo, Chukchi, Kamchadal, Yukaghir,

Yakut and Samoyed, mostly subsisting by

hunting in winter and fishing in summer,

have middle stature of 155-164cm. They

mostly keep dogs or reindeer for traffic

and transport in winter, but breed no

cattle, except Yakut which breed horses

for labor, meat and milk. In the southern

part below 60*N latitude, peoples, settled

or seminomadic, subsist by farming and

cattle-breeding : Buryat in Zabaikal

district, Kalmuck, Tartar, Bashkir and

Perniak in the western part of Siberia.

Almost all peoples in these regions of the

high latitudes have middle stature of

155-164cm.

3. Stature of peoples in Far East

In Table 4, Oroke is a tribe of Tungus

inhabiting Sakhalin Island. Neither

Oroke nor Aino cultivated land but they

hunted and fished in Sakhalin and Hok-

kaido. Among the Japanese there are

regional differences of mean stature. The

262 E. TAKAHASHI

Table 1, Stature of peoples in India and the neighborhood.

Table 2. Regional climate elements in India and the circumference.


Table 3, Stature of Asian peoples in the

high latitudes (male).

Table 4. Stature of East-Asian peoples

(male).

Oroke : a Tungus people of Sakhalin Island related

to the Orochi of Amur river mouth region.

author (1966) reported that in Japan the

stature of secondary school pupils in 1960

was larger in prefectures of central re-

gions and smaller in prefectures of peri-

pheral regions. He found corre-

lationship of secondary school

pupils with economic level of

prefectural inhabitants and with

expenditure for food. The author

(1967) also found that the young

men of conscription age from

1928 through 1936 were the tallest

in prefectures of Kinki region

including Kyoto, Osaka and

Kobe. Kinan-Japanese in Table

4, measured by NAKAYAMA in

1937, correspond to people in that

region. Japanese stature is fairly

rapidly increasing especially

after world War II, though the

records in Table 4 are all those

of prewar days. Mean stature

of the Korean were usually

greater than that of the Japanese.

4. Island peoples of Southeast

Asia

Among island inhabitants of

Southeast Asia some groups of

peoples who belong to negroid of

small stature are known as

negrito, for instance, Aeta and

the Andamanese (Table 5). Aeta

inhabit Zambales mountains in

Luzon, the Philippines. Other

tribes in the Philippines, such as

Mangyan and Igorot are also

smaller. In Celebes, Indonesian

peoples such as Minahasa and Bugi are a little taller than

Toala, Veddoid people of the interior of

south-western Celebes.

No remarkable difference of stature is

found between proto-Malay such as Teng-

264 E. TAKAHASHI

Table 5. Stature of island peoples of Southeast Asia (male).

ger (or Tenggara) and deutero-Malay such as Javanese (or Djavanese) in Java and

Sundanese (or Soendanese) in Lesser

Sunda Islands. Indonesian people in

Sumatra such as Minankabau and Batak

have middle height. It seems necessary

to reinvestigate the existence of such tall

Malay as KLEIWEG DE ZWAAN described

to central Sumatra.

During World War II, Tukuda anthro-

pologically measured various kinds of

people in Java. As is seen in Table 6,

some kinds of deutero- and proto-Malay

inhabit in Java and Madura. While there

is little difference of height is observed

among manual laborers of these races, a

considerable difference is found between

different social classes of the same race.

Educated people are clearly taller than

manual laborers. Army volunteers are


Table 6. Stature of Indonesian males in Java (TUKUDA, 1968)

Table 7, Male stature of Indonesian and foreigners in Java during the World War

II (TUKUDA, 1968).

taller than manual laborers, but it may

come from the fact that army volunteers

are younger than laborers; that the

younger generation is taller than the older

may also be true in Java. Students are

the tallest, probably because of their

young age and their socially and econo-

mically higher position.

266 E. TAKAHASHI

In Table 7 TUKUDA compared stature of

the Indonesian with that of other races

in Java. Differences between stature of

the Indonesian and the Japanese, Chinese,

Arabian and Indian are not so great, but

Formosan army personnel, Indo-Eurasian

civilian and Korean army personnel are

distinctly taller.

In Table 5 Mestizoes in Kisar are a

little taller than Kisarese, and also in

Table 7 Indo-Eurasian is taller than

other Indonesian. As to the reason of

those differences one might consider not

only genetical but also environmental

factors. If one of the parents is of Euro-

pean origin, probably he may bring Euro-

pean pattern of food such as milk, butter

and cheese into their family life.

5. Peoples in continental Southeast Asia

It is well known that the northern

Chinese are taller than the southern. In

Table 8, Chinese stature of 166.0cm by

Wagenseil may be of the northern. Lobo

is a Tibeto-Burman people of the high

plateaus and mountains of southwest

Szechuan and northern Yunnan, and they

have tall stature. They have small areas

of field to plant buckwheat or other

gramineous and raise some domestic

animals.

Most of southern Chinese, Burmese,

Tonkinese, Annamese, Cochin-Chinese and

Siamese are rice-cultivating farmers.

Miao inhabiting southwestern China, the

northern part of Annam, Laos and Thail-

and, and Moi inhabiting the mountain

uplands of Annam and Cambodia, subsist

by primitive agriculture. Semang and

Senoi of Malayan mountains mainly

subsist by hunting and collecting. All

those native mountain peoples have

shorter stature than the agricultural

peoples in open fields.

6. Inland Asian peoples in the middle

latitudes

Most of the inland Asian peoples in the

middle latitudes are more than 165.0cm

tall as shown in Table 9. Most of them

inhabit steppes, deserts or waste land of

high mountains or plateaus over about

2, 000m, where plant cultivation is not

suitable: Gobi desert in Mongolia ; Ordos,

Alashan steppe and Takola Makan desert

in the northern and northwestern China ;

highland steppe in Tibet and Chinghai ;

Kyzyl and Kara desert in Central Asia ;

Thar desert in northwestern India ; Kavir

desert and many steppes in Iran, Afgha-

nistan and Baluchistan. Inhabitants

subsist by nomadic or settled domestic

animal breeding. They depend much on

dairy food in their diet. Although living

in the midst of desert, most peoples in

Uzbeck and Kirghiz, who have a little

shorter stature than nomadic people,

engage in plant cultivation by irrigation

from the Am and Sil river. For Armenian

four different values of stature are read

in Table 9. Although lacking in data,

each value should be considered in relation

with subsistence economy of the examined

population.

7. Regional stature distribution of

Asian peoples

When recorded mean stature of Asian

peoples is divided into 4 classes, A : below

155.0cm, B: 155.0-164.9cm, C : 165.0-174.9

cm, D : above 174.9cm, all Arctic, Sub-


Table 8. Stature of peoples in continental Southeast-Asia (male).

Table 9, Stature of inland Asian peoples in the middle latitude (male).

Osset : an Aryan people of central Caucasus who are descendants possibly of immigrants

from Persia.

268 E. TAKAHASHI

Table 10. Regional stature distribution of Asian peoples in number of measurement

records.

Notice: In some cases records contain the same people twice or more by different authors.

Table 11, National food supplies per caput per day in certain Asian countries (in

Calories, FAO Production Yearbook, 1964).

1) Potatoes and other starchy roots, 2) Fruit and vegetables, 3) Including butter,

4) Excluding butter.

arctic and East Asian peoples belong to

class B (Table 10). Southeast island

peoples belong to classes A and B with only one exception that belongs to class

D. Continental Southeast Asian peoples,

and Indian and the neighbors range from

class A, B to C. Most of inland Asian

peoples in the middle latitudes belong to

class C. It is noticeable that the taller

peoples live in dry inland region of step-

pes and deserts, and Southeast Asian

peoples living in rainy coastal and island

area are shorter.

These regional distribution of stature

of Asian peoples seems to be related to

the climate and consequently to the mode

of subsistence economy. Southeast Asia,

so-called monsoon area, has much rain in

summer season, and the climate is suitable

for rice planting. Rice is an efficient plant

to yield higher calories per unit area, and

highly dense populations in Southeast

Asian countries are mainly sustained by

rice plantation. However, rice has a

defect as staple food, lacking minerals

such as calcium and vitamins especially

when one takes most calories from rice.

Moreover, most Southeast Asian peoples


Table 12. Pattern of subsistence economy and stature of natives in East Africa (male),

1) Cited from MARTIN-SALLER, 1956. 2) In original literatures stature was measured in

inches for each five or ten year age groups. 3) Original data accompanied standard

deviation.

take less dairy food compared to inland

Asian people in the middle latitudes.

In Table 11, national food supplies per

caput per day in certain Asian countries,

calculated from national food balance

sheets prepared by governments in col-

laboration with Food and Agricultural

Organizatoin (FAO), are given in kilo

calories from FAO's Production Yearbook

(1964). Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines

and Ceylon are the countries of the similar

type in food supply, and India, Pakistan

and Turkey are of another type, though

India has so vast a territory as to include

the both types. Nations of the latter

countries take more milk but less fish

than the former. The Turkish takes ten

times more milk than the Japanese.

Contrasting to the mean stature of Japa-

nese ranging 157.7-164. 8cm in Table 4,

that of Anatolian Turkey is 167.2cm in

Table 9. Also stature of Armenian, Kurd

and Osset are mostly over 165cm.

II. PATTERN OF SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY AND STATURE OF

EAST AFRICAN TRIBES

Table 12 shows patterns of subsistence

economy and stature of East African

tribes. Masai is a pastral and sometimes

nomadic people in Kenya, in the east of

Lake Victoria. Kikuyu is a Bantu-speak-

ing negroid people of Kenya, and the rural

Kikuyu are settled agriculturalists. Ac-

cording to WILLIAMS (1969), the younger

Kikuyu men are variously employed in

paid occupations from sedentary to inter-

mittent heavy manual work ; the majority

of women hand-cultivate land outside the

village. The staple food of the Kikuyu

is cereal, and their diet consists mainly

of maize, including potatoes, beans and

peas.

According to SHAPER et al. (1969) the

Samburu, Rendille and Turkana are tribes

of the northern frontier province of Kenya

and all nomadic pastoralists, but each is

270 E. TAKAHASHI

to some extent from different ethnic stock

and has certain ecological factors which

distinguish it from the others. All three

groups have sheep and goats but the

Samburu are preeminently cattle-owners,

the Rendille camel-owners and the Tur-

kana possess camels and cattle and engage

in some agriculture. The northern half

of Kenya consists mainly of arid semi-

desert country with occasional plateaux

or mountains which have relatively good

grassland. The annual rainfall ranges 250-500mm although there is considerable

variation from place to place. Maximum

day temperature in Samburu areas is 18*-

27* and in the Rendille and Turkana

districts it approaches 30*. The humi-

dity is low everywhere, probably about 60

percent. Cattle and camels are kept for

milk and are only killed with great reluc-

tance when they are dying from disease

or old age or when ceremonies or scarcity

of meat demand their sacrifice.

As is seen in Table 12, stature is the

tallest for Masai and Samburu, nomads,

next for Rendille and Turkana, semi-

nomadic, Kikuyu, the cultivator is the

shortest.

Since 1962 Kyoto University Africa

Scientific Expedition has anthropological-

ly studied on 4 tribes living near Lake

Eyasi, which is between Lake Victoria

and the Indian Ocean, in Tanzania. The

result of sociologic studies was published

in Japanese (1968). Stature of the natives

shown in Table 12 is unpublished data of

IKEDA and HAYAMA who take charge of

the studies in the division of physical

anthropology.

Among 4 tribes in this area, Datoga is

a pastral and nomadic people and a rival

of Masai in Kenya. They breed cattles,

donkeys, goats and sheep, and their diet

consists of milk and meat, though these

30 years in touch with agricultural tribes

they gradually have become to take maize

as a staple food. Recently, hunting of

wild animals is prohibited by the govern-

ment, and agriculture is now getting

popularized among Datoga, also. Nowa-

days, most Datogas have a farm, though

the area is not over one acre and grow

maize for domestic consumption.

Hadzapi is a hunting and collecting

tribe and is the only one tribe permitted

hunting by the government. Time and

frequency of taking meals are not decided

in their daily life. Principally they eat

whenever food is found. However, now-

adays maize, which is obtained from agri-

cultural tribes in exchange for wild honey

etc., is prepared for children and old

people. When they have enough maize

in reserve, women do not go out to collect

food. Hunting and honey collection is

carried out from May through October,

and during the rainy season and the in-

terval from November to April they col-

lect fruit, nuts and rootstocks. Because

those kinds of food do not exist so much

in the nature, they do not live as a large

group and do not stay over two weeks

at one place. Therefore, they have no

stable houses and make only temporary

dwellings chiefly with branches.

Mbulu, called Iraq also, subsist by far-

ming and hunting. They breed cattle,

donkeys, sheep and goats as Datoga do,


and have farms of 2 acres on the average,

for maize, millet and cash plants such as

calabash, onion and tobacco. They take

maize as the staple food usually with

milk and milk products, sometimes with

side-dishes of onion, tomatoes and wild

plants. Home-made butter is used for

cooking, salt collected from Lake Eyasi

during dry season is used as the seasoning.

They do not eat fish.

Sukuma is a Swahili speaking Islamic

farmers of Bantu origin. Although maize

is their staple food, they eat millet, Indian

millet and starch of cassaba also, and

boiled rice is the most cherished delicacy

for them. Side-dishes are rich in variety

such as meat, fish, vegetables and wild

plants. For breakfast they customarily

took porridge of maize, millet or Indian

millet, but since English settlement era

they learned to drink tea, also. Recently

they often put into tea milk bought from

pastoral people. Sometimes they drink

coffee in the morning. Sukuma is on the

highest level of culture among 4 tribes,

and is the only one tribe that is under

the application of a new rule to set a

lavatory for every house.

Datoga, nomad or pastoral people in

Tanzania, is equal in stature to Masai

and Samburu in Kenya ; semi-nomadic

Mbulu as well as Rendille and Turkana

seems to rank next to Datoga. The culti-

vating tribe Sukuma is smaller than those,

and Hadzapi is the smallest. Significant

differences of stature are found among

those 4 Tanzanian tribes except between

Datoga and Mbulu.

Those tribes in Kenya and Tanzania

are living in the same land under different

subsistence economy. Nomads are the tal-

lest, semi-nomadic ranks next. Plant

cultivators are the smallest except a small

number of hunting and collecting natives.

There seems to exist certain relation be-

tween habitual diet and stature. Nomads

depend much on milk products in their

diet contrasting to plant cultivators who

depend much on cereals and vegetables.

During growth period, for growth of

bones minerals such as phosphor, magne-

sium and especially calcium are indispen-

sable. Milk and milk products contain

more minerals than cereals.

III. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF STATURE IN EUROPE

1. Nations' stature and national food

supply

Turkish people belong to one of the

tallest in Asia, but in Europe they no

more belong to taller group. In Europe

it is wellknown that peoples' stature is

taller in the northern countries and

shorter in the southern. LUNDMAN (1967)

completed a map of geographic distribu-

tion of stature in Europe, as seen in Fig.

2. Following him the author tried to

rank the stature of European nations as

shown in Table 13.

To find the relation between food con-

sumption and nations' stature, national

average supplies of food per person per

day are cited from FAO's Production

Yearbook. Fig. 3 shows national food

supplies per caput per day of 17 European

countries in 1951/53. There seems to be

found a tendency that national supplies

272 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 2. Geographic distribution of stature in Europe (after

LUNDMAN, 1967),

Note 1, below 160cm; 2. 160-164cm; 3. 164-168cm;

4. 168-172cm; 5. 172cm and over.

Table 13. Evaluation of stature grade of European

nations based on Lundman's map (male),

of cereals, pulses and nuts, and fruit and

vegetables are more abundant in southern

countries, and of sugar, meat, eggs, milk

and milk products, and fats and oils are

ampler in northern countries. If it is

permitted to calculate correlation coeffi-

cients between national stature grade and

national supplies of food, the result ap-

pears as shown in Figs. 4-13 and Table 14.

Correlation coefficients of

national stature of adult

male are significant nega-

tive with national supplies

of cereals, pulses and nuts,

and fruit and vegetables,

and significant positive

with potatoes and other

starchy roots, sugar and

syrups, and milk and milk

products. Although an in-

terpretation is not so easily

given to all those correla-

tionships, the result seems

to coincide with what is ob-

tained in the study of Asia

and East Africa in some

points. In Asia, peoples'

stature is taller in an in-

land desert or steppe area in

middle latitude, and shorter

in rice producing hot and

rainy southeastern area.

Peoples in desert or steppe

generally consume more

meat, more milk and milk

products than peoples in

monsoon area of Southeast

Asia who consume more

cereals for calorie intake

and more pulses for protein intake. The

reason of the correlation of stature with

national supplies of potatoes and other

starchy roots and of sugar and syrups is

not clear.

2. Geographic distribution of stature

and geology in France and Spain

KHERUMIAN and SCHREIDER (1963)

published the data of recruits' stature in


Fig. 3, National food supplies per caput per day in 17 European countries in 1951/53

(from FAO: Production Yearbook), Note Potatoes: potatoes and other starchy roots,

Sugar: sugar and syrups, Pulses: pulses and nuts,

Vegetables: fruit and vegetables.

274 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 4, Correlation of stature with national supplies of cereals for 16 European

countries.

Fig. 5, Correlation of stature with national supplies of potatoes and other starchy

roots for 16 European countries.


Fig. s, Correlation of stature with national supplies of sugar and syrups for 16

European countries.

Fig. 7, Correlation of stature with national supplies of pulses and nuts for 16

European countries.

276 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 8, Correlation of stature with national supplies of fruit and vegetables for 16

European countries.

Fig. 9, Correlation of stature with national supplies of meat for 16 European

countries.


Fig. 10. Correlation of stature with national supplies of fish for 16 European

countries.

Fig. 11. Correlation of stature with national supplies of eggs for 16 European

countries.

278 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 12, Correlation of stature with national supplies of milk and milk products for

16 European countries.

Fig. 13, Correlation of stature with national supplies of fats and oils for 16 European

countries.


Fig. 14, Geographic distribution of stature of recruits by prefecture in France, 1959

(after KHERUMIAN and SCHREIDER, 1963),

France in 1959 by prefecture, as shown

in Fig. 14. Although lacking in data of

southwestern 8 prefectures, taller people

distribute in the northern, northeastern

and eastern regions of France. Peoples

in the western regions-Normandie, Bre-

tagne, Maine, Anjou and Toulaine-are a

little shorter than those in other regions.

The same tendency of geographic distri-

bution of recruits' stature in France was

also found in the data of the early nine-

teenth century (VILLERME, 1829)

Within such a developed country as

France in West Europe, regional difference

of dietary habit should be small compared

to the international difference. Although

there might be considered the existence

of some inclination of socio-economic

condition, one should remark the mineral

content of the drinking water, because

from the point of view of bone formation

in the growth period, mineral content of

drinking water such as calcium is not

negligible. In France, the nature of the

280 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 15. Geology in West Middle Europe (copied from Akademia Nauk SSSR : Physico-

Geographicheskii Atlas Mira, Moskva, 1964),

ground in the north-western regions (Nor.

mandie, Bretagne, Maine and Anjou) and

the central mountainous regions (Marche,

Limousin and Auvergne) are markedly

different from that of the northern area,

as seen in Fig. 15. The former is covered

with very old stratum of the Precam-

brian, in contrast with the latter which is


Table 14. Correlation coefficients of adult

male stature with national average food

supplies in 16 European countries.

*p<0 .05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001

Excluding Yugoslavia

covered with the Cretaceus and the Ter-

tiary. It might be assumed that the old

strata are more deficient in minerals than

the mordern strata, because the super-

ficial ground has been washed out by pre-

cipitation so long as several hundred mil-

lion years.

The fact that the big rivers rising in

the Alps and Jura Mountains such as the

Seine, the Rhone and the Rhine contain a

far greater amount of dissolved solids

such as calcium, as seen in Table 15 (LI-

VINGSTONE, 1963), seems to be natural be-

cause those mountains consist of younger

strata. The fact that most of old bones

of prehistoric era have been discovered in

the strata of limestone or the Cretaceous

proves the important role of calcium to

the preservation of bones, which is appli-

cable to the bones of a living body.

Calcium dissolved in the drinking water

is absorbed through mucous membrane of

intestine and lay up in bones without

accumulation in serum.

The same relation between geographic

distribution of stature and geology

in France is found in Iberian Pe-

ninsula. In Spain the tallest peo-

ple inhabit Vascongadas Province

in the neck of the peninsula facing

Bay of Biscay (Fig. 16). The

second tallest people inhabit the

area from Vascongadas along the

southern foot of Pyrenees to the

Mediterranean coast facing the Gulf

of Valencia with Balearic Islands.

From the northwestern coast of the

peninsula to the central inland area inhabitants are shorter. According

to LUNDMAN (1969) this inclination

of stature distribution in Iberian Penin-

sula was also found right in 1905.

The figure of stature distribution seems

to simulate the geologic distribution of

the peninsula. As shown in Fig. 17, the

Precambrian and the Palaeozoic strata

cover from northwestern coast to the

central inland area. Although the Pyre-

nees consist of the Palaeozoic, the coast

of Bay of Biscay from San Sebastian to

Santander and the surrounding area con-

sist of the Cretaceus and the south neigh-

boring area consist of the Tertiary. The

coast and the background areas of the

Gulf of Valencia, where taller people in-

habit, consist of the Cretaceus and the

Jurassic. It is regrettable that the data

of river water analyses lack for the Duero,

the Guadiana, the Guadalquivir and the

Ebro, except for the Tejo in Portugal

(LIVINGSTONE, 1963).

DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY

From the study of geographic distribu-

282 E. TAKAHASHI

Table 15. Analyses of river water from West Europe.

From Data of Geochemistry, 6th ed. G24. US Government Printing, 1963.

Fig. 16. Geographic distribution of stature in Iberian

Peninsula, from Spanish military material in 1927 and

Portuguese material in 1932 (after LUNDMAN,1967).

tion of stature in Asia, we could find that

peoples in deserts and steppes are usually

taller than peoples who subsist by rice

plantation or other cereals production in

warm and humid climate area. From the

study of East African tribes we could

know that nomads and pastral peoples are

taller than plant cultivators and col-

lecting and hunting peoples. From those

studies and the author's previous study

of growth in Japan, he deduced the domi-

nancy of the effect of con-

sumption of milk products

for growth. The fact that

Scotchmen especially the

Highlanders were a little tal-

ler than English and Irish-

men, seems to be interpreted

by the fact many Highland-

ers subsisted by cattle or

sheep breeding. The same

interpretation may be also

applied for the tallness of

the mountaineers of Swit-

zerland, Tyrolians and Sa

voyards, though there also

the role of geology should

be considered. The corre-

lation between nations' stat-

ure and national food supplies for 16 Eu-

ropean countries seems to affirm the effect

of milk and milk products on growth to

a certain extent. As the largest contrib-

uting factor to height growth-bone pro-

longation-the role of calcium intake is

stressed.

As for calcium intake, that from drink-

ing water should not be neglected. Al-

though the content of calcium in drinking

water is small compared with that in


Fig. 17. Geology of Iberian Peninsula (copied from Akademia Nauc SSSR : Physico-

Geographicheskii Atlas Mira, Moskva, 1964),

food, the absorption rate of calcium from

water in intestine seems to be far higher

than that from food except milk.

In the geographic distribution of stature

in Europe, Montenegro of Yugoslavia is

marked as a spot of taller people. For

the explanation of the fact by environ-

mental factors, analyses of river water

or drinking water are wanted as well as

habitual diet. In China peoples are taller

in the North than in the South. As seen

in a n old saying regarding traffic in China

"boat in the South, horse in the North ",

in the North, neighboring Ordos and Gobi

desert, breeding of horse and other domes-

tic animals seemed to be more prosperous

than in the South. Beside that, analyses of

river water of Hwang Ho, Yangtze Kiang,

etc. are needed to interpret the north-south

difference of Chinese stature. River water

of Hwang Ho and Yangtze Kiang is gues-

sed to contain much calcium, because the

Cretaceus covers the ground of the wind-

ing part of Hwang Ho and most part of

Tibet from where Yangtze Kiang rises.

The effect of the socio-economic factor

to stature distribution, as stated in the

previous paper of the author, seemed to

be indirect. In a country where personal

income is not sufficient to sustain the

diet of the highest level in nutriments,

intake of calcium as well as animal pro-

tein relates to the income and expenditure.

For example, nutrient intake per person

per day by monthly expenditure group in

Japan is as shown in Fig. 18. The figure

is based on the National Nourishment Sur-

vey in 1967. A, B, C, D and E mean month-

ly expenditure group respectively below

5, 000 yen, 5, 000-9, 999 Yen, 10, 000-14, 999

Yen, 15, 000-19, 999 Yen, and 20, 000 Yen

and over per person of consumer's families.

Almost all of main food, except rice

and fish, increase with expenditure group.

Specifically large discrepancy is found

in meat and poultry, milk and milk pro-

ducts, fruit, etc. On the contrary, the

less the total expenditure is, people take

284 E. TAKAHASHI

Fig. 18. Nutrient intake by expenditure group in Japan, 1967.

Expenditure group (monthly expenditure per person of family) : A, below 5, 000 yen ;

B, 5, 000-9, 999 yen; C, 10, 000-14, 999 yen ; D, 15, 000-19, 999 yen; E , 20, 000 yen and over

(from the Result of the National Nourishment Survey of Japan in 1967).


the more rice.

LITERATURE CITED

BUCHI, B. C., 1968: Somatic groups composing

the modern population of India. Proc. VIII

Internat. Congr. Anthrop. Ethn. Sci., I: 154-

158. Tokyo.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations, 1964. Production Yearbook,

18: 259-262.

IMANISHI, K. and UMESAO, T. (ed.), 1968:

Studies in African societies. Report of the

Kyoto University Africa Scientific Expedi-

tion, 1962-68, pp.45-258. Tokyo.

KHERUMIAN, R. et SCHREIDER, E., 1963: Rdpar-

tition departemental de la stature, du poids

et de la circonference thoracique en France

Metropolitaine. Biotypologie, 24: 3-27.

LASKER, G.W., 1969: Human biological adap-

tability. Science, 166: 1480-1486.

LIVINGSTONE, D. A., 1963: Chemical composi-

tion of rivers and lakes. Chapter G of "Data

of Geochemistry (6th ed.)" : G23-24. Washing-

ton.

LUNDMAN, B., 1967: Geographische Anthro-

pologie. S.93-95. Stuttgart.

LUNDMAN, B., 1969: Zur Anthropologie der

Iberischen Halbinsel. Homo, 20: 245-249.

MARTIN, R. and SALLER, K., 1959: Lehrbuch

der Anthropologie, II: 775-786. Stuttgart.

SHAPER, A.G., WRIGHT, D.H., and KYOBE, j,.

1969: Blood pressure and body build in three

nomadic tribes of Northern Kenya. East Af r.

Med. J., 46: 273-281.

TAKAHASHI, E., 1966: Growth and environ-

mental factors in Japan. Human Biol., 38:

112-130.

TAKAHASHI, E., 1967: Geographic distribution

of mortality rate from cerebrovascular di-

sease in European countries. Tohoku J. Exp.

Med., 92: 345-378.

TUKUDA, Ch., 1958: Anthropometric study on

the aborigines of Java. J. Anthrop. Soc. Nip-

pon 66: 165-178; 216-226. (in Jap.) VILLERME, L.R., 1829: Memoire sur la taille

de I'homme en France. Ann. Hyg. Publ. Med.

Leg., 1: 351-399.

WILLIAMS, A.W., 1969: Blood pressure differ-

ences in Kikuyu and Samburu communities.

in Kenya. East Af r. Med. J., 46: 262-272.

(Recieved May 4, 1971)

286 E. TAKAHASHI

人類身長の地理的分布と環境要因

高橋英次

東北大学医学部衛生学教室

アジァおよびヨーロッパにおける身長の地理的分布および東アフリカにおける部族の身長と環境要因との関

係を検討した.

アジア地域については,MARTIN-SALLER の人類学教科書に所載のアジァ諸地域住民の平均身長を利用し

た.測定年次・被検数・標準偏差などの記載のないものが多いが,他に適切な資料がえられないのでこれを使

用した.身長分布の地域差の大きい印度およびその周辺地域では,西パキスタンを含む北西部地方の砂漠・乾

燥地帯が一般に長身で165cm 以上を示すが,これに対して東部ガンジス河流域からビルマにかけて,また南

インド・セイロンにかけてはすべて165cm 未満であり,山間部族のうちには155cm末満のものもある.こ

の地方は気候的には降水量が多く,概して稲作地帯に属する.シベリァ北部では冬季狩猟・夏季漁撈を行う種

族が多いが,牧畜は行っていない.中緯度地方に向うにしたがって半ば定着した遊牧民や農耕民が居住する

が,これらシベリァ以北の住民の平均身長はすべて155～164cm の範囲内にある.日本列島および朝鮮半島

を含む極東地域住民も同じ範囲の中位身長を示している.島嶼東南アジアについては,ルソン島ザンバレス山

系のアエタ族やスマトラ西北方のアンダマン島民のように155cm 未満の低身長種族もみられるが,大部分は

155～164cm の中位身長を示す.第2次大戦中ジャワ島で計測を行った附田の数値によれば,同島在住の諸種

族間の身長差は社会階層や年齢層による差に近い値を示している.中国から大陸東南アジアにかけては,内陸

部寄りの住民に高身長がみられるが,平野部の稲作地帯では一般に155～164cm の中位身長を示している.

ただしマライ半島山岳部原住民は155cm 未満の低身長である.蒙古・トルキスタン・チベットから中央アジ

アを経て西アジアに至る中緯度内陸部はインド北西部とともにその大部分が砂漠・半砂漠・高原ステップなど

で占められているが,これらの地域の住民の大部分は165cm 以上の高身長を示している.ただし,中央アジ

アの砂漠地帯の中でもアム・シル両河による灌概が行われ農耕に従事している流域住民は165cm に達しない。

要するにアジアでは,主として稲作農業の行われているモンスーン地域やその他の農耕地域の住民にくらべ

て,食生活において畜産品に対する依存度の大である内陸砂漠地域住民は長身である.FAO の調査報告によ

り1951/53年の国民1人当り食糧供給量をみると,乳および乳製品の配分量は日本・台湾・フィリッピンなど

にくらべてトルコやパキスタンは約10倍ほども多い.

東アフリカの同一地域に住む原住民について食生活形態と身長の関係をみた。ケニヤの部族については主と

して East Afr.Med.J.所載の文献により,タンザニヤの部族については京都大学アフリカ学術調査隊報告

および同未発表資料を供与利用させてもらったが,牧畜民は農耕民に比して長身である.

ヨーロッパについては身長の地理的分布を示した LUNDMAN の地図によって16か国国民の身長を6つの階

層に格づけし,FAO の国民1人当りの食品群別配分量との間に相関を求あてみた.身長と乳および乳製品,

砂糖類およびいも類との間に順相関,穀類,豆類および野菜果実との間に逆相関がみられた.これらの関係の

解釈にはなお慎重な検討を要するものがあるが,著者が前に46都道府県について14才と17才の男女生徒の身長

と消費実態調査成績による米・肉魚・牛乳卵・野菜の消費額との間に相関を求めた結果,米とは相関がなく他

の3者ことに牛乳卵との相関が最も顕著であったこととも関連して,著者は動物性蛋白質とともにカルシウム

の身長発育に対する意義を重視している.

カルシウムその他の鉱物質は食物のみならず飲料水からの摂取も当然考えられる.フランスおよびスペイン

の壮丁身長の地理的分布には地質との関連の考慮されるものがある.この関連は河川水のミネラル含量によっ

て仲介されるものと考えられ,セーヌ・ライン・ローヌの河川水はロァール・ガロンヌにくらべてミネラルこ

とにカルシウムの含量が大である.

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