When it comes to being lean, it helps to be tall. According to a new study, people who have "tall genes" are more likely to have the "slim genes."
Many studies have shown that people across nations have different heights, and they may develop a disease in different ways. However, the impact of both the environment and genetics among these various populations are not quite known, something a team from the University of Queensland in Australia wanted to find out.
For the study, the team first analyzed the different genetic studies that established the relationship between genomes and physical characteristics such as height. Using only the genetic information, they then estimated the body mass index (BMI), a measurement of body mass in relation to height, of more than 9,000 people who lived in 14 European countries.
The team then discovered that people who had genes that allowed them to be tall were more likely to possess genes that would also make them slim and have lower BMI.
Further, to know the impact of genes on the height and slimness in nations, they matched the results of these people from 14 countries with the national average for both BMI and height in each of these places.
They found out that genes accounted for at least 8% variation in BMI and more than 20% variation in height.
If there's some good news among non-tall people, it's the possibility that while genes play a role, environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle have more impact, based on the low genetic percentages.
Nevertheless, the differences of gene information among the countries cannot be simply attributed to chance since they still remain significant. Matthew Robinson, who led the study, then explained that the differences in genes may be a product of natural selection-that is, Europeans needed a certain height and BMI in order to thrive.
The study is now available in Nature Genetics.