Stature of Han Chinese dialect groups: a most recent survey

The height of 26,940 Chinese Han adults (16,503 rural and 10,437 urban adults) from 11 Han ethnic groups was measured and analyzed in the current survey. The top three highest dialect groups in rural Han populations are Jianghuai (male 167.3 ± 6.4 cm, female 156.5 ± 5.6 cm), North China (male 167.3 ± 6.4 cm, female 155.7 ± 5.7 cm), and Wu (male 166.7 ± 6.9 cm, female 155.6 ± 5.9 cm) groups. In urban Han populations, the top three groups are as follows: the Northeast China (male 169.5 ± 6.7 cm, female 158.0 ± 6.1 cm), North China (male 168.5 ± 6.2 cm, female 157.3 ± 5.8 cm), and Jianghuai (male 169.2 ± 6.2 cm, female 157.1 ± 5.6 cm) dialect groups. The Gan dialect group (male 164.0 ± 6.3 cm, female 153.9 ± 5.0 cm) was the shortest in both rural and urban groups. The different stature of Han dialect groups may be a result of interaction between genetic background and different environmental factors, labor intensity, diet composition and nutrition intake in different areas in China.