If you’re tall, you’re also more likely to be slim, according to a team of scientists led by the University of Queensland.
The new study suggests a link between the genes that increase a person’s height and those that produce a reduced body weight. Image credit: Art Comments / CC BY 2.0.
The scientists examined the height and weight of 9,416 people from 14 European countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) and used data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
They found the genes that result in greater height correlate strongly with the genes that produce a reduced body mass index (BMI).
“Our findings give a genetic basis to the stereotype of Scandinavians as being tall and lean,” said Dr Matthew Robinson of the University of Queensland, who is one of two corresponding authors of a paper describing this research in the journal Nature Genetics.
“Genetic differences were likely to result from historic natural selection on height and BMI,” said Prof. Peter Visscher, a researcher at the University of Queensland and another corresponding author of the paper.
“The research suggests that tall nations are genetically more likely to be slim.”
Only 24% of the genetic variation in height and 8% of the genetic variation in BMI could be explained by regional differences.
“Countries’ populations differ in many ways, from the height of their people to the prevalence of certain diseases,” Prof. Visscher said.
“Genetic variation between countries could explain national differences in height, but environmental factors were the main determinant of a population’s BMI,” Prof. Robinson added.
“This suggests that differences in diet, for example, are more important than genetics in creating differences in BMI among nations.”
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Matthew R Robinson et al. Population genetic differentiation of height and body mass index across Europe. Nature Genetics, published online September 14, 2015; doi: 10.1038/ng.3401
