Pre-reading questions:
- What’s the average height of Japanese people?
- Did you eat healthy food when you were younger to be taller? What food did you eat?
- How tall are you?
A research conducted by the Imperial College of London identified that the tallest men in the world came from Netherlands and the tallest women are from Latvia. The researchers evaluated height charts of 18 year olds over a 100 year period. The study shows that Dutch men has an average height of 182.5 centimeters and Latvian women has an average height of 170 centimeters. Over 800 scientists participated in the said research. They observed that in some countries like Iran and Korea, people continued to grow even after the age of 18 while the opposite happens to other countries such as United Kingdom, United States, and Finland. Furthermore, people in Sub-Saharan Africa have been growing shorter in the past 5 years.
Although some experts strongly believe that genetic factors affect growth, the researchers from the Imperial College of London says that nutrition plays an important role on one’s height. They also claim that people who eat high-protein food are much taller. Dutch men usually eat protein-rich food like milk, cheese and meat.
Vocabulary:
genetic – influenced by genes or origins
claim – to demand by or as by virtue of a right; demand as a right or as due
conduct – personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment
identify- to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing
opposite – situated, placed, or lying face to face with something else or each other
Comprehension Questions:
- What is the study all about?
- Who conducted the study?
- What is the result of the study?
- What happened to the Sub-Saharan African growth?
- What are the factors that affect people’s growth?
Express Your Opinion:
- I am taller than an average Japanese person.
- Gene is a great factor that affect height.
- We have old beliefs to have a good height.