Diverse bunch
Chances are you put your height and girth down to your genes. While height variations within a population are largely genetic, where you live in the world also affects the size and shape of your body. People living at low latitudes, such as the Nilotics in equatorial Africa, tend to have narrow bodies and few curves, while Eskimos living in Arctic regions have wider bodies and a bulkier physique. In fact, detailed studies by anthropologists have revealed that the width of the human body varies by about 25 per cent between different populations and increases as you go from low to high latitudes (see graph). In contrast, height does not follow any obvious geographic trend.
So why the link between build and geography? Anthropologists believe it is all down to climate and, in particular, the way our bodies lose heat. Humans rely largely on sweating to cool themselves down. In hot climates, having a large surface area relative to body mass means that you can lose more body heat through increased radiation, convection and evaporation. Likewise, people living in cold climates retain more heat if they have a smaller surface area to mass ratio. All else being equal, having a wider body leads to a lower ratio of surface area to mass, and explains the geographical trend.
鈥淟aid end to end, your blood vessels would wrap 2.5 times round the Earth鈥�
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Sweating is not an effective way to cool down in extremely humid environments where there is little or no air movement. In hot, steamy rainforests the best way to prevent overheating is to limit the amount of heat you produce in the first place by reducing body mass. This seems to be why Pygmies who live in the tropics are so short compared with the Nilotics, who inhabit similar latitudes but with a different climate. Living in drier, open grasslands allows sweat to evaporate from the body efficiently, as does having long, thin limbs. This enhances the tall willowy look of the Nilotics, who tower above Pygmies.
鈥淭he average adult has between 40 and 50 billion fat cells鈥�
Record-breakers
Longest neck
By wearing a succession of copper coils, women in the Paduang tribe of Burma have extended their natural neck length by up to 40 centimetres. The Paduang believe long necks are a sign of beauty.
鈥淟aid out flat, your skin would cover an area of about 2 square metres鈥�
Shortest
In 1990 India鈥檚 Gul Mohammed was crowned the shortest mature man in medical history. He was a mere 0.57 metres tall. Since his death in 1997, several others have claimed to be the smallest living man, including Adeel Ahmed (above).
鈥淵our heart beats about 100,000 times each day鈥�
Tallest
Robert Pershing Wadlow from Alton, Illinois, reached a staggering 2.72 metres by the time he died in 1940 aged 22. He also holds the record for the largest feet, which measured 47 centimetres.
Largest chest
Illinois-born Robert Earl Hughes doubled in weight four times between the ages of 6 and 25. His chest measured a tape-busting 3.15 metres. He died in 1958 and was buried in a coffin big enough to house a piano.
鈥淎n adult brain weighs about 1.3 kilograms鈥�
Most cosmetic surgery
Transsexual Fulvia Celica Siguas Sandoval from Peru has gone under the cosmetic surgeon鈥檚 knife 64 times since December 1979. More than 25 operations have been carried out on her face and neck.
Largest hands
London resident Hussain Bisad鈥檚 hands measure 26.9 centimetres from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. He is also officially recognised as the second tallest living man.
鈥淵our lungs inhale 10,000 litres of air a day鈥�
Longest fingernails
Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City holds the Guinness world record for the longest fingernails on a female. Laid end to end, her nails would stretch 7.51 metres.