Philippines Average Height: How Tall are Filipinos Compared Globally

Understanding Average Height in the Philippines

The average height for Filipino adults has steadily increased over past generations. However, the Philippines still ranks among the shorter countries across global populations on average. Many factors influence final adult height ranging from genetics, to childhood development issues, to health and nutrition.

What is the Current Average Adult Height in the Philippines?

According to the latest data from 2019, the average height for adult Filipino men age 20 years and older is 162.1 cm or about 5 feet 4 inches. For Filipino women in the same age bracket, the mean height is 150.6 cm or about 4 feet 11 inches.

This reflects a gradual upward trend over the past century as living conditions and economic growth have improved in the country. However, Filipino adults still measure shorter on average compared to many other nationalities world-wide.

How doesFilipino Height Compare Globally?

The Philippines ranks relatively low worldwide in terms of average adult height for both men and women. Developed countries with abundant economies and advanced healthcare systems comprise most of the tallest nations statistically.

For example, American men 20 years and older average around 5 feet 9 inches tall versus 5 feet 4 inches for Filipino men. For women, the average American height is 5 feet 4 inches compared to 4 feet 11 inches in the Philippines.

Genetics play a key role in the height variance between populations. North Europe, areas of sub-Saharan Africa, and countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina top the list for documented average heights near or exceeding 6 feet for males.

Why are Filipinos Typically Shorter on Average?

The smaller stature of most native Filipinos relates to dietary factors and living conditions primarily stunting height potential.

Impact of Childhood Malnutrition

Undernutrition during infancy through adolescence when the body rapidly grows can significantly hamper final height. Nutrient deficiencies causing developmental delays in childhood were historically common in poorer regions.

Children require adequate calories along with proteins, vitamins and minerals to reach optimal skeletal growth and size. Prenatal and early childhood malnutrition lasting for years often severely limits an individual’s growth potential.

High Poverty Levels

The Philippines has struggled with high rates of unemployment, low wages and poverty especially in rural areas. About 1 in 5 Filipinos fall below national poverty thresholds making access to nutrient-rich food a challenge.

Families lacking essential resources due to low incomes generally consume less meat, seafood, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruit. A rice-based diet rampant with nutritional deficits impedes children from attaining their full height possibility.

Frequent Infectious Disease

Developing nations like the Philippines have higher contagious disease rates from inadequate sanitation facilities in some areas. Recurrent childhood infections from parasites, bacteria and viruses sap nutritional reserves needed for growth.

Giardia, cholera and intestinal parasites divert nutrients from food consumed. Frequent diarrhea and gut infections also inhibit optimal nutrient absorption essential for development.

What Other Factors Affect Height?

While childhood factors largely dictate height potential, other elements impact vertical measurement including:

Genetic Predisposition

The most significant determinant of an individual’s height involves genetic makeup inherited from parents. Having two shorter parents reduces the odds of being tall. But exceptions occur like having a tall child from average height parents.

DNA contains specific height instructions directing skeletal bone growth. Shorter stature evolved as an advantage in some tropical regions near the equator with intense heat and sunlight exposure.

Sex Hormones

Estrogen circulating in higher amounts compared to testosterone cues the growth plates in long bones to close earlier in females during puberty. This averages out to a height difference between adult men and women cross culturally.

Eunuchs castrated before hitting puberty notably retain greater height since their growth plates remain open longer sans sex hormones. They exhibit taller stature compared to non-castrated men on average.

Spine Compression

The stacking of vertebrae comprising the movable spinal column compresses slightly over decades of gravity pressure. The slight height decrease this gradual settling causes becomes more noticeable by middle age.

Most individuals lose between half an inch to two inches from spine compression and thinning discs as aging progresses. Regular spine mobility exercises help delay this decline.

Smaller Size Correlations for Filipinos

Despite the shorter average height, smaller body size correlates with potential health advantages in some respects for Filipinos.

Lower Cancer Incidence

Significantly lower rates of breast, ovarian and uterine cancers occur in Asian and Filipino populations compared to Europe and North America. The smaller skeletal frame and muscle mass largely explains this cancer variance tied to physical size.

Growth factor hormones like estrogen and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) occur at lower circulating levels in more petite women. Since excess levels can accelerate tumor development, a smaller body curbs production of these pathogenic compounds.

Reduced Heart Disease

Shorter individuals on average develop less heart disease across ethnicities according to broad epidemiological study analysis. The reasons for cardioprotection include having smaller artery lumens curbing atherosclerosis along with lower blood pressure.

Like cancer risk, growth-stimulating anabolic hormones ride lower in shorter individuals. These include growth hormone, IGF-1 and insulin metabolism that increase inflammatory pathways driving cardiac and vessel disorders when riding too high.

Greater Longevity Potential

Counterintuitively, smaller people tend to live longer, on average defying assumptions only larger, heartier individuals reach old age. Having less cell mass seems to slow metabolic oxygen use and free radical production punching the biological aging clock.

The combination of fewer years spent building a smaller body through youth plus cells dividing at a reduced rate thereafter pays significant lifespan dividends.

Will Filipinos Continue to Increase in Height?

As developing countries modernize healthcare services, improve childhood nutrition programs and reduce contagious illnesses, average height increments should persist. But genetics will continue to dictate height potential.

Environmental height inhibitors have decreased substantially for younger Filipino generations born after 2000 as the economy and infrastructure expanded. Yetmicronutrient deficiencies still hinder sectors grappling with poverty and inadequate food access.

Ongoing public health efforts to address childhood stunting through prenatal care for mothers plus nutrition programs will enable more Filipino children to achieve their full vertical length. But short stature will likely remain relatively common compared to taller ethnic groups.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.