The coast of giants: an anthropometric survey of high schoolers on the Adriatic coast of Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this anthropometric survey was to map regional differences in height and body proportions in eight counties adjacent to the Adriatic coast of Croatia. Body height was measured in 1,803 males and 782 females aged 17–20 years at 66 schools in 23 towns. When corrected for population size in regions, mean male height is 182.6 cm in all eight counties, 182.8 cm in seven counties of Adriatic Croatia, and 183.7 cm in four counties of Dalmatia proper. Regional variation is considerable: from 180.6 cm in the county of Karlovac to 184.1 cm in the county of Split-Dalmacija. The mean height of females is based on more limited data (168.0 cm in seven counties). These results show that young men from Dalmatia are currently the tallest in the world in the age category of 18 years, and the north-to-south gradient of increasing stature on the Adriatic coast largely mirrors that in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The extraordinary values of height in Croatia and BiH can most likely be explained by unique genetic predispositions that are shared by the local populations of the Dinaric Alps.

Comparative study of anthropometric measurement and body composition between basketball players from different competitive levels: elite and sub-elite

“…According to official statistics, the average height of all participants in the FIBA Basketball World Cup that was played in Spain in 2014 was 199.04 centimeters. When we add that the average body height of the national teams of USA and Slovenia (winner from the last World and European Basketball Championship) was 201 centimeters and 200.08 centimeters, we can conclude that the elite basketball players included in this study were tall enough (199.5cm ) and did not lag behind the top World players, and that the selection of players was done well, which is not a surprise since this area is part of the Dinaric Alps, which are known for high percentage of very tall subjects [25,26].…”

Relationship Between Sitting Height Measurements and Standing Height: A Prospective Regional Study among Adolescents in the Southern Region of Kosovo

“…It is necessary to note that one study limitation may be the structure of respondents in the selected sample and the fact that residents for the most of Kosovo had not reached their full genetic potential so that positive secular trend may lead to average standing height changes, including body proportion changes. There are studies that state that final grade high-school students are still in a stage of growth and development (Szollosi, 1998;Wronka & Pawlinska-Chmara, 2009;Grasgruber et al), but studies conducted in Montenegro contradict this claim, because a standing height difference between university students and final grade high-school students was not found (Bjelica et al, 2012. Therefore, a similar situation can be expected with the population of Kosovo, "given the certain similarities between Montenegrins and Kosovars, or some common specific features in relation to other populations in the region" (Popovic, 2019).…”

“…It is widely known that standing height and body proportions are specific with regard to populations li-ving on Dinarides (Starc et al, 2019). People from the Dinaric Alps were recognized as tall people by European anthropologists more than a century ago (Grasgruber et al, 2019). Based on that, one possible conclusion is that this fact might influence the main objective of this study, because of the soil type, as well as other socio social, economic and geographical characteristics as a potential influencing factor (Gardasevic et al, 2017).…”

Evolutionary Strategies for Body Size

“…If we consider African men with the pygmy phenotype at an average stature of 145 cm and pygmy woman at a stature of 136 cm as the shortest contemporary populations on record (33), and the tallest as the average Netherlands' man at 184 cm and the average Netherlands' woman at 171 cm (37), then the mean difference in the population average range for our species is a remarkable 39 cm for men and 35 cm for women! Other European nations with very tall populations include Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Croatia, where average young men from a widespread survey of these three Balkan countries ranged in height from 180 to more than 184 cm (38,39). In addition to the African pygmy phenotype, other short-statured populations, largely foraging or horticulturalist peoples, can be found in enclaves in South America, Southeast Asia, Papua-New Guinea, and equatorial Africa.…”