一项发表在柳叶刀杂志上的新研究发现，中国人过去三十多年变得越来越高，尤其是中国男孩，是全世界身高增长最快的群体之一。
这项研究由伦敦大学帝国理工学院研究人员进行，对200多个国家和地区的男性和女性身高进行了比较。团队分析了自1985年至2019年的2181项基于人群的研究，涉及5000万5至19岁的儿童和青少年，以及1500万20至30岁成年人的数据。
研究发现，全世界身高最高的人群集中分布在欧洲西北部和中部的国家，而身高最矮的人群则生活在南亚和东南亚，以及拉丁美洲和东非地区。
A new study published by The Lancet medical journal has revealed the tallest and shortest peoples and the places that continue to grow in height.
An exhaustive research project has compared the height of men and women across 200 countries and territories across the world.
The study pooled 2,181 population-based measurement surveys and studies, with anthropometric measurements on 50 million people aged 5–19 years and 15 million people aged 20–30 years.
The results revealed that the world's tallest men and women were largely found in northwestern and Central European countries, while the shortest lived across south and South East Asia, Latin America and East Africa.
研究显示，荷兰男性和女性均在全球身高排行榜列居榜首，其中荷兰19男性平均身高达到183厘米，而同龄女性平均身高达到了172厘米。
在男性身高方面，全球排名第二的国家是爱沙尼亚（19岁男性平均身高180厘米）、排名第三的国家为波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那（179厘米）、排名第四的国家是黑山共和国（172厘米）。
而在女性身高方面，全球排名第二的国家是丹麦（19岁女性平均身高165厘米）、排名第三的国家是冰岛（163厘米）、排名第四的国家是黑山共和国（161厘米）。
研究还发现，老挝、东帝汶、巴布亚新几内亚和所罗门群岛的男性平均身高最矮，19岁男性平均身高分别为159厘米、160厘米、161厘米和162厘米；而女性平均身高最矮的国家为孟加拉、东帝汶、危地马拉和尼泊尔，19岁女性平均身高分别为150厘米、150厘米、150.9厘米和151厘米。
The Netherlands is renowned for its tall population and unsurprisingly the nation has the tallest average height on Earth. The average 19-year-old man stands at 183 cm, while women of the same age are typically 172 cm.
Estonia (180cm), Bosnia and Herzegovina (179 cm) and Montenegro (172 cm) were the next tallest nations for men, along with Denmark (165 cm), Iceland (163cm) and Montenegro (161 cm) for women.
The study also revealed that the places with the shortest average height for men were Laos (159 cm), Timor-Leste (160 cm), Papua New Guinea (161 cm) and the Solomon Islands (162 cm).
Meanwhile, the equivalent figures for women were Bangladesh (150 cm), Timor-Leste (150 cm), Guatemala (150.9 cm) and Nepal (151 cm).
Some nations are continuing to grow in height. China has boasted the largest height gain for boys and third largest for girls in recent decades, while South Korea has the third largest growth rate for boys and second largest for girls in the same period.
研究还发现，一些国家的国民身高在持续增长，其中以中国和韩国最为突出。过去35年，中国男孩身高增长速度在全球排名第一，女孩身高增长速度在全球排名第三；而韩国男孩身高增长速度在全球排名第三，女孩身高增长速度在全球排名第二。
研究得出结论，家庭、学校和社区的社会、营养和环境因素都对儿童和青少年的健康成长至关重要。研究人员认为，各国应该关注对学龄儿童和青少年的营养投资，确保他们能够健康成长。
The study concluded that social, nutritional, and environmental factors at home, school and within the community were all crucial to the healthy growth and development of children through to adolescence.
It also urged nations to invest in the nutrition of school children and adolescents to ensure a healthy transition to adulthood.
