The average height in Sweden is 181CM for ages between 22-35 and 179CM for the whole adult population. For you yanks and brits that means that 186CM is roughly the regional equivalent to being "6' feet tall". Now I wish I could make it to 186, I think that's a great height but even if my mucles could handle that kind of distraction my proportions couldn't, so I'll settle for 184CM I think.
Anyway the way I figure your height starts to become interesting around 1 standard deviation from the mean, endomorphisme once told me that 1 SD is always 7CM (he even linked some study) so let's see where that leaves us.
Say the average height is 178CM -pretty standard for a western nation, that means that 185CM and above could be considered "tall" and 171 and below is "short". You gotta ask yourself: what is your goal?
If you want to not be considered short anymore then you should aim for 172CM at the very least.
If you want to be average, well that's self explanatory really, just reach at least the average height.
If you want to be tall you gotta reach at least 185CM.
For Sweden (and most of northern europe) those numbers would be: short: 174, average: 181, tall: 188
Thoughts?
Quote from: crimsontide on July 11, 2015, 02:45:49 PMso avg is 179, though iim pretty sure the number is lower.. i dont trust height polls. people always exaggerate height, and even when measuring height, mistakes are made
175 or so is still a decent height
you're thinking too much about this.
Swedish numbers are very legit trust me, sure 175CM is decent.
Quote from: G-Man on July 11, 2015, 03:38:26 PMFor me aesthetically the mark is 1m81, solid 5'11". At 1m81 and over you look tall but I understand where you come from.
When I was in the Netherlands, I saw some locals at 180-181cm and even though its probably close to average, they looked below average for that country but only because people tend to focus on the tall ones for comparison.
Regardless, 1m84 is a great height and you'd be consider tall in any country.
You went to the netherlands, were people as tall as they say?
Girls between 170-180 is very common here as well.
Quote from: Penguin on July 14, 2015, 07:59:51 PMI don't know if this sounds presumptuous, but 181cm is 5'11 and that's tall in most countries and averagish-tall in tall countries. To top that, you're going to add just 3cm. At that height, why do you care so much about 3cm?
No mate I am 178CM and I plan to add 6CM.
Don't know exactly what you mean by "interesting" but I suppose my goal is to reach a respectable height. I'd like to be about 185CM or taller but I'll settle for 184 I think.
Quote from: hadrian on July 15, 2015, 08:27:21 PMHave you ever traveled outside of Scandinavia? It'd be interesting to get a height-conscious Scandinavian's perspective on other countries.
I have boots on the ground experience in Japan, Mexico, and multiple states in the USA. I can vouch for the fact that college environments in the US can be especially brutal. I was just in a rock climbing gym in a university town a few weeks ago. I can attest that at my height I could only be considered above average if you included the foreign student population into the mix. Most domestic guys were in the 183-186 range, and there were multiple guys approaching or exceeding 190. Keep in mind everyone was wearing rock climbing shoes, which have flat soles.
Went on a vacation to Portugal recently and I felt like I was above average. The tallest of the portuguese seemed to be about 185CM, I've been to Frankfurt where I felt like a dwarf but I think it might just have been a bad day. In all the Nordic countries I feel short but not horribly so, I reckon 185 would be a solid height around here. In Brussels, Paris and London I felt average or slightly below.
I dread to visit the lowlands though after what I've heard.
Quote from: hadrian on July 27, 2015, 05:21:03 AMYeah and I do think that they still put a lot of emphasis on height as well, I was looking up celebrities in the Netherlands and the man voted sexiest in the country is 198cm tall(Arie Boomsma). Which goes to show that an impressive height is relative to the average of the region and it doesn't seem like there is some sort of glass ceiling for this, like some would have you believe.
I don't blame you for wanting to be able to stomp around the Schengen zone and feel solid while doing it. Does it bother you enough to consider moving? Despite what I say about the US I'm sure we're not as tall as you guys. You would be fine here, probably similar to how you felt in the UK.
I hear Baltic people are tall, is this true?
Obviously people taller than 195CM will always dwarf me more or less but that is to be expected, after all. Surely Holland is a scary place but at the end of the day it is just one place. The difference when travelling just across the english channel or a few miles south to France is quite staggering. All I can really ask for is a height that isn't objectively short and suitable for a young adult, in essence respectable or at least decent really is what I'm looking for.
Sweden might not be for everyone (the weather certainly isn't all that hospitable) but I still want to spend most of my life here. As any young person I would also like to live a few years abroad, the US seems like a lovely country. Maybe I'll buy an apartment somewhere sunny like San Francisco or something.
Sorry I wouldn't know about the baltic people but statistically they hover around 180 I think. I do have a recent anecdote in case you're interested. Just got back from a few days in Norway and surprisingly the majority of men seemed to be around my height plus or minus a few CM. I saw a lot of people around 185 but fewer men above 190 than below 175.
@Taller thank you for a well written and thought out responce. You really help to put things in perspective.
@Sweden I doubt people will get much taller honestly but it is true that 179CM is a bit short here. I feel like most people are at least 180-190 with a large cluster around the middle. In my opinion proportions are just as important as height though, are you sure yours could handle another 5CM?
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