Body size problems: The long misery
With my body length of 1,93 meters I'm used to sorrow. When I walk through the city in the rain, I have to be careful that no one pokes my eyes out with his umbrella. Besides, I get wet earlier than my fiancé, who is one and a half heads shorter than me. If I help an acquaintance with the renovation, the unpleasant stroke of the blanket is guaranteed to hang on me, because you get there so well. The number of my personal enemies in the public space is Legion: door frames of all kinds, advertising signs dangling from the ceiling in the supermarket, awnings and beds in hotels or hospitals, just to name a few. Also, the purchase of a really matching pants ever gets to patience.
But I do not want to complain? There are also a few advantages if you belong to the 6.3 percent of German men over 1.90 meters. No shelf is too high, no kitchen cabinet is too high up and in the midst of a crowd I always keep track. At concerts or other events, I always serve as a meeting place for my companions, because they see me jostling in the crowd like a lighthouse above. That may not sound so awesome now, but as a great person I've learned to value the small benefits of my length as well.
One only thinks about one's own height when an external circumstance makes one aware of it. Be it, because you have to meet a much larger or smaller person, have to stoop when boarding a subway car, or when a small person in the supermarket does not reach the upper shelves. On the other hand, scientists in the field of anthropometry are constantly concerned with body size. This science discipline is devoted to the study of human body dimensions and provides important results for the ergonomic design of vehicles, workplaces, furniture and tools.
Logically, these ergonomics experts orient themselves in their studies of the average person and therefore the results are also only, well: on average. German men are on average 1.80 meters tall, women come to 1.66 meters. Since one can calculate, how high a normal German sink is. I just measured it, it's 87 centimeters. Just the right height to make me a great backache. A friend of mine is only 1.50 meters tall and is always on a small Fußbänkchen when rinsing. But I really can not amputate my lower legs every time I want to rinse. Kneeling also does not work, then I'm too small. Kneel on a footstool? This reminds me too much of my short childhood interlude with the Catholic Messdienern. We therefore have a dishwasher that helps.
By the way, the smallest people, apart from the pygmies, live in Indonesia. There men are on average 1.58 meters tall (small?) And women only 1.47 meters. Dutch men with an average of 1.83 meters are the longest guys in the world, the women with 1.69 meters at least three inches longer than in Germany. What does that mean for me? If I accept a job as a dishwasher, it would be better in the Netherlands than in Indonesia. That's just hypothetical.
In the last 150 years, the average size of people has increased dramatically. According to a scientific evaluation of European size charts, men today are about 11 centimeters larger than in the middle of the 19th century. And the women? There is a lack of data for the study of female size development during this period. The size of men has always been well documented by their survey on entry into the military service. For women, science relies on estimates and the evaluation of their mortal remains in the form of bones. The striking increase in size growth explains anthropometrics with better nutrition, rising standards of hygiene and nationwide medical care. In particular, the quality of the diet in the first three years of life has a great influence on the growth in length (thanks mom).
Of course, genetics also plays a crucial role. To estimate the expected size of a child, there is a simple rule of thumb: Take the arithmetic mean of the size of mother and father, adds six inches for boys and also subtracts six inches for girls. Personally, that does not quite work out for me, but that's just the way things are done. Anyone who wants to know more about it, for example, out of concern that their child is extremely large or remains very small, can have their doctor make an X-ray of the left child's hand. Based on the level of development of the so-called growth joints between the hand bones, the physician can predict the expected height with high accuracy.With appropriate medical justification, the health insurance companies cover the costs of this examination.
By the way, as a long man you get used to annoying questions. Meanwhile, I answer "Na Langer, how is the air up there ?? only with "good", and is everything clear with you? Are you still sitting or are you already standing ??
