Average height of Vietnamese among world’s top 25 shortest

This comes after scientists discovered that globally there’s approximately a 20cm difference between the average height of a child in countries with the tallest and shortest people, according to details provided by the BBC.

When it comes to adults, people in countries such as the Netherlands are ranked among the tallest on Earth with the average person towering as high as 175.62cm. However, at the other end of the scale the average height is considerably lower.

Below is the ranking of average height data compiled using a 2020 medical database run by NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a project linked to Imperial College London. It lists separate figures for both male and female heights in each country.

Vietnam duly ranked 15th in the list of the world’s top 25 shortest countries, with people in Vietnam having an average height of 159.01cm. On average, Vietnamese men stand at 164.44cm tall, whilst women are on average 153.59cm tall.

India was placed 14th with an average height of 158.76 cm.

Elsewhere, the world's shortest people can be found in East Timor that have an average height of 155.47 cm. The second and third places went to Laos and Madagascar with average heights of 155.89cm and 156.36cm, respectively.

Environmental factors such as poor diet are likely to be part of the answer, according to the BBC, citing a study that found a 20cm difference between children in the tallest and shortest nations.

It could also help to explain why average heights in several nations have both risen and fallen over the last decades. Some nations like Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China have seen height increases, while some sub-Saharan African nations like Uganda and Sierra Leone have seen male height decreases, the BBC reported.