A big woman (but not too much) is she more beautiful? Obviously not. Beauty guns vary from one country to another. From time to time, too. But in some representation trades (hostess, flight attendant, mannequins ...) size is an asset, even a sine qua non. No wonder that winning centimeters is perceived as a beauty asset . And in this category, an international study, published by the eLife newspaper (conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization) has just revealed the ranking of the world's largest men and women. Especially this study began in 1914, so the scientists have been measuring us for 100 years to evaluate our growth. Today, according to the eLife study (which followed the growth of 187 countries), a Dutchman measures 1m83 while we find the Latvians in first position, who measure on average 1m70! So where are the French women in this ranking? With our 1m63 on average, we occupy the 23rd place of the classification .

The ranking by country where women are the largest

On the men's side, the Dutch are enthroned at the top of the podium, the Belgians come second, followed by the Estonians. On the women's side, it is the women of the East who are the biggest and occupy the top of the ranking :

1) Latvia

2) Holland

3) Estonia

4) Czech Republic

5) Serbia

6) Slovakia

7) Denmark

8) Lithuania

9) Belarus

10) Ukraine

At the bottom of the list are women from Guatemala who grew up in 100 years from 1m40 to 1m50. Strangely, some populations have lost centimeters. This is the case in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Uganda and Sierra Leone.

Finally, in terms of growth, South Koreans are the ones that have grown the most by taking 20 cm in 100 years.

What affects size?

The other revelation of this study is that if certain populations continue to grow, others stagnate. Like the Americans who reached a peak in the 60s. They were then 4th in the ranking and are now only 42nd .... The researchers are wondering what makes us grow so fast. the genes ? They are a base of course but in as short a time they can not actually affect such growth. On the other hand the environmental factors: the lifestyle, the food, the care .... influence our good growth. The in utero period during pregnancy is also crucial: it allows the baby to fill up with nutrients essential to his growth.