Ancestry/Anthropometric survey of Western raised EA/SE Asians

Yudajin GoyathlayA 2020-06-26

中文版

Abstract

In June of 2020, a self-reported survey on ancestry, height, weight, monolid and Asian flush percentage was conducted on East/SE Asians raised in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Responses were collected from primarily Facebook, though Reddit and Discord were also used. Most respondents were in late teens to mid-twenties, though this varied amongst different ethnic groups. The tallest are the North Chinese, with a self-reported average height of 178.81/165.38 cm for men and women. The shortest average belongs to ethnic Filipinos, of whom average 172.1/159.26 cm. Taiwanese Chinese males are the lightest, at 70.13 kg on average, while Guangdong/HK Chinese females are the lightest at 56.25 kg. Ethnic Koreans hold the highest Monolid percentage, at 60% for the men, while only 3.12% of Filipino women possess the trait. Southern Chinese are the more susceptible to Asian flush at 54-64%, while only 19.7% of Filipino males are affected by Asian flush. Refer to the appendix for more graphs.

Results

Western raised Asian men

Ethnicity/group Sample size Mean age (year) Height
mean ± SD (cm)		 Mean weight (kg) Monolid (%) Asian flush (%)
Chinese Overall 605 22.6 176.35 ± 6.7 72.13 38.71 52.6
North 133 20.92 178.81 ± 6.7 74.3 53.57 54
Central 69 20.8 177.54 ± 6.6 72.1 39.3 40
South 432 23.91 175.27 ± 6.4 71.67 35.57 53.76
Fujian 98 21.82 176.08 ± 6.9 72.6 37.80 54.0
Taiwan 65 22.78 175.48 ± 5.6 70.13 41.1 53.7
Guangdong/HK 248 24.92 174.72 ± 6.2 71.04 34.48 56.74
Vietnamese 259 23.04 173.14 ± 6.4 72.98 25.22 50.46
Filipino 94 22.35 172.1 ± 6.6 72.44 14.45 19.7
Japanese 55 42.85 172.83 ± 7.7 76.93 44.9 43.48
Korean 145 22.92 177.11 ± 7.1 75.48 60 48.6
Biracial Asian 55 22.75 175.08 ± 7.6 70.19 13.2 40.4

Western raised Asian women

Ethnicity/group Sample size Mean age (year) Height
mean ± SD (cm)		 Mean weight (kg) Monolid (%) Asian flush (%)
Chinese Overall 1334 21.14 162.58 ± 6 56.68 27.6 61.4
North 155 20.07 165.38 ± 5.4 58.07 37.06 49.2
Central 151 20.9 164.01 ± 6.6 56.8 35.9 53
South 1050 21.58 161.71 ± 5.7 56.45 23.89 64.25
Fujian 215 21.21 161.56 ± 5.7 57.02 32.35 63.82
Taiwan 149 21.4 162.28 ± 5.8 56.43 27.66 59.74
Guangdong/HK 553 21.79 161.71 ± 5.6 56.25 19.96 64.44
Vietnamese 783 22.17 159.95 ± 6.1 56.36 12.23 51.77
Filipino 206 21.46 159.26 ± 6.5 59.04 3.12 41.83
Japanese 106 42.6 159.26 ± 6.6 59.57 27 67.05
Korean 212 22.17 162.77 ± 6.2 58.39 53.4 51.27
Biracial Asian 133 22.47 163.75 ± 6.5 61.98 2.83 60.3

Ancestrial characteristics

Top 5 most populous Asian diaspora Most common places of ancestry
Chinese Hong Kong, Guangdong, Fujian
Vietnamese Saigon. Hanoi, Da Nang
Filipino Manila, Ilocos Norte, Cebu
Korean Seoul, Incheon, Busan
Japanese Kyushu, Hiroshima, Osaka

Discussion

  1. According to many scientific reports, self-reported studies on height is generally inflated anywhere from 1-2 cm for men, and 0.5 cm for women, making female heights more accurate. (Dalton 2015) Weight tends to be slightly inflated for the men, reverse for the women. (Dalton 2015)

  2. Most respondents are female, as Facebook is predominately used by female users.

  3. Extreme numbers (height/weight) were eliminated for a more accurate mean.

  4. As this survey took place during COVID-19, weight for most people have increased due to lack of exercise.

  5. The Chinese average in this report cannot represent Mainland China, as South Chinese in this report make up a disproportionately high percentage of samples.

  6. Chinese (North) encompasses those descended anywhere north of the 34th parallel in China. Chinese (Central) includes the regions of Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Hubei. Chinese (South) accounts for the rest of China, including Guangdong and Fujian, though they are also singled out due to sufficient sample size.

  7. Japanese American samples have a higher average weight, as respondents are older on average.

  8. Biracial Asians include any mix of East/SE Asian with regions outside, including Europe, India and Africa, although in this study, they are predominantly half white, half Japanese/Chinese/Filipino.

  9. Diaspora Taiwanese, especially Taiwanese Americans are disproportionately of Waishengren descent, meaning they cannot represent native Taiwanese Chinese of Taiwan.

  10. The tallest group are the northern Chinese, especially those around the Bohai Rim. Coastal northern Chinese men and women average 179.02 cm and 165.65 cm, while inland/other northern Chinese average 178.12 cm and 165.01 cm. The heaviest are western raised Koreans, despite them being shorter than central and northern Chinese.

  11. Monolid percentage appears to be higher in men than in women.

  12. There are sampling issues for alcoholic flush rates, with many responding “don’t know” for the question. The legal drinking age in the USA is 21, and many respondents are below 18, with some as young as 17.

  13. Groups with low sample sizes were omitted from the report.

Appendix

References

  1. Dalton III, W. T., Wang, L., Southerland, J. L., Schetzina, K. E., & Slawson, D. L. (2014). Self-reported versus actual weight and height data contribute to different weight misperception classifications. Southern medical journal, 107(6), 348. https://doi.org/10.14423/01.SMJ.0000450708.52011.7c

  2. Olfert, M. D., Barr, M. L., Charlier, C. M., Famodu, O. A., Zhou, W., Mathews, A. E., … & Colby, S. E. (2018). Self-reported vs. measured height, weight, and BMI in young adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10), 2216. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102216

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