Me: This is the fourth in a series I will do on India. This one is a little harder to validate because the person being profiled has a height that is very hard to verify.

On the one hand the article below says that she is claimed to be 8 feet tall. Her mother states in the article that Siddiqa was 7′ 6″ four months ago and that she has since grown more height since then.

From the Tallest Man website, Siddiqa is listed at just 7′ 0″ which seems more reasonable. The Guinness World Records have been contacted to verify Siddiqa’s height to gain her popularity so she can help her family financially. 

What I would note that the girl is Bengali, which is technically in  South Asia but not a part of India. The article says that she is from the South Dinajpur District. 

It is worth noting that althought Svetlana Singh has claimed to be 7′ 2″ she was measured at some point to be only 6′ 8″ which would make her one of the tallest but not the tallest female in India. 

Also if we decide to include the country of Nepal as a part of South Asia then the title of tallest female would actually go to Urmila Kumari Chaudhari who is from Nepal standing at either 7′ 1″ or 7′ 3″. Her profile at the Tallest Man website can be found HERE.

From The Tallest Man…

Siddiqa Parvin – over 7 feet 0 inches. (over 213.4 cm)

From NDTV

Seven-foot tall woman draws crowds in Bengal

Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: July 03, 2012 20:23 IST

From the website for the Online newspaper The Sunday Indian located HERE

Is Siddiqa the tallest woman in the world?

Me: This is the third in a series of posts I will do on the stature of the people from the great country and culture of India.

Picture taken from the Tallest Man website HERE.

Jess Noronha is probably definitely the tallest female teenager in all of India at 6′ 10 or 208.3 cm tall. There really is no much more information about this girl expect from a source that says she passed on basketbal land volleyball and goes to school at St. Agnes college.

I would note that if this girl is really 6′ 10″ and she is younger than 18 which would make her be definitely defined as a teen, then not only woudl she have the title of the tallest teen in all of India, but also of the entire world. Elisany Silva from Brazil who should be around 16 now is only 6′ 9″. I don’t understand why Jess has only been named the tallest in India when she is tall enough to be a Tallest In The World contender.

There is also a profile on her from the Tall People website HERE

Me: This is the second article in a series for India showing how the bodies of the people of this great nation is changing, specifically getting bigger at an incredible speed. It is really amazing that the increase in height in just 20 years for children is almost 2 inches. Obviously the increase is the result of better nutrition, sanitation conditions, and maybe even healthcare. Note that the increase is most prominent in middle to high class children. However with a country this big, with so many people still in poverty it will take a lot of work to make the entire country rise up, figuratively, economically, and physically.

From the website for The Daily UK

Indian children walking tall: Study shows teenagers are 2 inches taller than in 1992

By DINESH C SHARMA

PUBLISHED: 21:05 GMT, 20 March 2012 | UPDATED: 11:47 GMT, 21 March 2012

If you have noticed your young one to be a few inches taller and a few kilos heavier than what you were at his or her age, don’t be surprised. Indian kids today are taller and heavier than what they were 20 years ago.

On average an 18 year old child belonging to an upper income family is about 4.5 centimeters (about 2 inches) taller and about 4 kilograms heavier than in 1992, researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) and All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have reported.

The study results have been published in the National Medical Journal of India. Height and weight of children across the socio-economic spectrum have registered an increase but the hike is sharper in children belonging to upper income groups. 

The average height of boys has increased by 2 inches while their average weight has increased by more than 6 kg

This has emerged in the nationwide study covering over 1.06 lakh boys and girls in the 5-18 years age group in 19 cities all over the country. One of the key factors for the changing physical parameters of Indian children is improvement in their nutritional status.

It is also an indicator of overall development and improvement in facilities such as sanitation, transport and hygiene.

The absence of infectious diseases also contributes to weight gain because any episode of infectious disease causes loss in weight. It has been observed that children worldwide have become taller and heavier in the past few decades.

In the developed world, the trend of an increase in height plateaued after the 1960s but it continues in the developing world with varying degrees.

The study is the first such conducted at the national level, the researchers said. The last study done in 1992 had a much smaller sample size and it was spread over 12 cities only.

The median height of a 12-year-old boy in 1992 was 145.8 cm (about 4 feet 9 inches) compared to 150.1 cm (4 feet 11 inches) now. An 18 year old boy now has median height of 174.3 cm (5 feet 9 inches) compared to 169.8 cm (5 feet 7 inches) in 1992.

The median weight of a 12-year-old boy has gone up from 34.8 kg in 1992 to 41 kg now. It is up from 58.6 kg in 1992 to 66.2 kg for an 18 year old.

Similarly, the median height of a 12-year-old girl changed from 146 cm (4 feet 9 inches) to 149.8 cm (4 feet 11 inches), while for an 18-year-old girl the change is from 157 cm (5 feet 2 inches) to 158.5 cm (5 feet two-and-a-half inches). 

The average height of girls has increase by 0.5 inches, while their weight has increased by more than 7 kg

The mean weight of a 12-year-old girl rose from 35 to 41.9 kg. The change for an 18 year old girl is 48.4 to 55.6 kg.

Out of 1,06,843 children who were evaluated, 42 214 children (19 303 boys, 22 911 girls) were from the lower socioeconomic strata and 64 629 children (34 411 boys, 30 218 girls) were from the upper socioeconomic strata.

School fee was taken as a proxy for socio-economic status of the children. ‘India is undergoing a major transition and this study provides a clear evidence of this,’ said Dr Raman Kumar Marwaha, who led the study.

Measurement of height and weight is frequently used by doctors and health workers as a tool to define children’s nutritional status and to assess their growth.

The data is also used by health policy makers to target special nutrition programmes.

That’s why growth charts for children need to be updated regularly. A significant difference was observed in heights and weights of children belonging to upper and lower income families across all age groups.

‘Children from upper income strata were taller and heavier, not only when compared with those belonging to the low income groups, but also when compared with the combined lot’, Marwaha said.

While improving physical parameters augur well for Indians, the increase in weight may be a cause of worry for a small segment of the kids’ population because it will give rise to overweight and obesity.

Height and weight are used to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI) – an index of obesity. If the new values are used, a lot more Indian children will get categorised as overweight and obese.

If the BMI of a person is 25 or more, he or she is considered overweight and if it is 30 then the person can be called obese as per international norms.

For Indians, various agencies, including the World Health Organisation, have suggested lower cutoff because Indians have a different body make-up and a propensity for central obesity even with a lower BMI.

An Indian should be considered overweight at BMI of 23, it has been suggested.

‘In this study, 13 and 15- year-old girls (and 14 and 16-year-old boys) have already reached the overweight and obese categories as per the current definition for adult Indians,’ said Dr Vijayalakshmi Bhatia of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS).

‘If we use current international BMI definitions and use data from our study, we would end up accepting overweight children as ‘normal’ at all ages,’ Marwaha said.

Otherwise, he said, about 20 per cent children would be categorised as overweight and obese, which is a significant number. Childhood obesity heralds early onset of metabolic disorders in adulthood.

Me: This will be the first in a series of posts I wanted to do about India. In a country of over 1 billion people and which will eventually become the most populous country in the world in just 2 decades (according to the demographic analysts) India seemed an appropriate place to find giants and people with extreme bodies.

This was a story I found from the website for the newspaper The Daily UK. Since I do have pictures posted, I understand there might be a few copyright issues with that which I will deal with if I am informed of any issues that comes up. 

From this source HERE, they say that Sharad is 2.18 m and that Sanjot is 1.90 m

From the The Daily UK website HERE the article is posted below.

Meet the Kulkarnis: India’s tallest family with a combined height of 26ft hope to set a new world record

• Family is so tall they never use public transport and ride scooters instead
• Sharad Kulkarni, 52, is 7ft 1.5ins tall and his wife Sanjot, 46, is 6ft 2.6ins tall
• Their daughters are both over 6ft and want to be models

By KRISHNA KUMAR

PUBLISHED: 21:56 GMT, 26 June 2012 | UPDATED: 23:31 GMT, 26 June 2012

The Kulkarnis from Pune tower above their countrymen. Sharad Kulkarni, 52, who works in the State Bank of India, stands 7ft 1.5in tall; his wife Sanjot, 46, is 6ft 2.6in and their daughters, Mruga, 22, and Sanya, 16, are 6ft 4in and 6ft 1in tall respectively.

Their combined height is a staggering 26ft, almost. India’s tallest family is likely to set a new Guinness record for being the world’s tallest.

Mr and Mrs Kulkarni were crowned India’s tallest couple by the Limca Book of Records a year after they married in 1988.

While the recognition did make them feel good, it came after both faced years of teasing and ridicule as they grew up. ‘In three years of college life, I was all alone.

‘I didn’t have any friends because I was so tall. It was only after I started getting publicity that people began interacting with me,’ Sharad said. When he hit 7ft as a teenager, he ploughed his energies into sports and ended up playing basketball for the country.

But Sanjot struggled to fit in her native village. The pair began to accept early on in their teens that marriage might be difficult.

‘I was a basketball player and travelled the length and breadth of India for tournaments. But I was never able to find a girl who came close to my height.

The tallest I found was around 5ft 10 in. I had even decided not to marry and was planning to adopt a child. But, as chance would have it, one of Sanjot’s relatives saw me,’ Sharad said.

It was actually Sanjot’s grandmother who spotted him walking down a street in Mumbai one evening and approached him. Sharad said: ‘This lady came up to me and asked if I was single and if I would meet her granddaughter who was over 6ft tall. I didn’t believe her and refused, but my friends persuaded me to take her number.’

A few weeks later, Sharad’s parents called the number and a meeting was arranged for the couple. ‘When I met Sanjot, I was happy. And I knew we would be happy together,’ Sharad said. But he added that even now, the family faced problems, albeit of a different kind.

They can’t use public transport such as trains and buses, and even four-wheelers are a nono because Sharad can’t accommodate his knees inside.

The family prefers scooters for road travel and when flying is necessary, they ask for a front seat or the emergency exit row. Being tall also means the four have to cope with people staring and talking behind their backs.

‘It doesn’t bother me and Sanjot anymore but our daughters get perturbed,’ Sharad said. The Kulkarnis have wardrobes full of custom-made clothes and shoes.

And their house has been adapted to meet their needs – they changed the door frames from 6ft to 8ft high and have customised the furniture. Mruga and Sanya plan to put their height to good use and are thinking of foraying in modelling.

‘We love being tall. I hear girls moan every day about their short height but we’re so content. We are studying right now but are also trying to build a portfolio.

‘We hope our height will help us get a long career as models,’ Mruga said, adding that ‘husbands are a long way away yet’.

The Guinness Book of Records does not currently have a tallest family category, but would consider it

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165196/Meet-Kulkarnis-Indias-tallest-family-combined-height-26ft-hope-set-new-world-record.html#ixzz29chtn4FV
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Me: I just found this website for the journal “Growth, Genetics, & Hormones” located HERE today and I am very excited to see what it can offer. I will be adding this to the resource page in the next few days. 

This new website will be critical in helping at least me understand many of the genes and hormones that are documented in the “Gene Database” and Protein and Hormone Pathway” section of the website since my knowledge on how each of them are connected to each other is still very elementary. What is really nice about the articles is that they are not too technical that it makes it impossible for the average educated laymen to read but also technical enough to give the ordinary reader possible insights and ideas on how to apply the knowledge.

If you are interested in helping out with the website and cause, I would suggest that you start from this website of journal articles and studies first. It seems to be very helpful in our research.

Me: I found this rather short article very insightful on the deeper hormonal and genetic influences that results in the variation of height. It is a very important read.

Genetics of Stature

« Back to Volume 24, Issue 2, November 2008 – Table of Contents

Adult height is primarily (approximately 80% to 90%) determined by hereditary factors. Socioeconomic status, nutrition, and disease influence only a relatively small proportion of attained stature. It has long been suspected that there are a multitude of genes that impact upon this polygenic trait, with each gene exerting an additive but only very limited effect. From genome-wide association studies employing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses in approximately 80,000 individuals of European ancestry (UK, Scandinavia, Holland, Iceland), these 3 investigative groups have identified more than 30 chromosomal sites and the potential genes that appear to be partially involved in the regulation of adult stature in humans (Table). Gudbjartsson et al divided the candidate genes into 3 functional groups—those associated with skeletal development (eg, BMP2, BMP6), those that encode zinc-dependent metalloproteinases (ADAMTS10) and glycoproteins (eg, FBN1) that affect cartilage composition, and those that are involved with the processes of chromosome segregation and mitosis (eg, CDK6, HMGA2). The gene most frequently associated with stature in all 3 studies was ZBTB38. This zinc-finger protein binds methylated DNA—specifically the methylated allele of the differentially methylated region of H19/IGF2.¹ This is the site at which epigenetic errors of imprinting result in either the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (OMIM 130650) of somatic overgrowth or the growth retardation syndrome of Russell-Silver (OMIM 180860).² ZBTB38 represses transcription of methylated regions. Thus, it is interesting to speculate that ZBTB38 might affect adult stature through regulation of the production of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II, perhaps during in utero development when IGF-II is known to be one of the determinants of fetal growth. Independent of its effect on methylated DNA, ZBTB38 also regulates transcription of TH, the gene encoding tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting step in catecholamine synthesis. Other commonly identified gene candidates were HMGA2 encoding a chromatin architectural factor and CDK6 encoding a cyclin dependent kinase regulator of the cell cycle.

While each of these candidate genes has only a small effect upon adult height (estimated 0.4 cm), collectively they can exert significant influence and account for only approximately 4% of adult stature. The more “tall” alleles one has, the taller the individual (Figure). In the study of Weedon et al, there was a 5 cm difference in adult stature between subjects with 17 or fewer “tall” alleles compared to those with 27 or more.

Gudbjartsson DF, Walters GB, Thorleifsson G, et al. Many sequence variants affecting diversity of adult human height. Nat Genet. 2008;40:609-15.

Lettre G, Jackson AU, Gieger C, et al. Identification of 10 loci associated with height highlights new biological pathways in human growth. Nat Genet. 2008;40:489-90.

Weedon MN, Lango H, Lindgren CM, et al. Genome-wide association analysis identifies 20 loci that influence adult height. Nat Genet. 2008;40:573-83.

First Editor’s Comment

These reports are of great interest as they dramatically illustrate just how many genes must be involved in the determination of adult stature. They also illustrate the quantitative problem that the clinician will face in identifying the “cause” of genetic short stature in a specific patient. However, it was difficult to critically examine the data because some of it was derived by meta-analysis of previously published reports. Thus, it was unclear whether or not there may have been some overlap between analytical data utilized in the 3 reports. The reports are also difficult to interpret because the investigators employed different probes for similar or related SNP sites. For example, ZBTB38 was identified as SNP rs724016 in the report of Lettre et al, as SNP rs6440003 in the report of Weedon et al, and as SNP rs6763931 in the report of Gudbjartsson et al. [A brief expository review of genome-wide association studies and SNPs has been written by Christensen and Murray.³]

Allen W. Root, MD

Second Editor’s Comment

Fisher proposed in 1918 that many genetic factors, each having an individually small effect, explain the heritability of height.⁴ Much attention has been devoted since that time to identifying these factors. For instance, numerous genes have been identified that harbor mutations responsible for the osteochondrodysplasias and other syndromes associated with severe short stature, but in general these genes do not seem to influence the normal continuous variation in stature. Although linkage studies have elucidated chromosomal regions that affect height variation, they have not identified specific gene loci that influence height in the general population. It has not been until the recent application of genome-wide association (GWA) studies that significant headway has been made. This approach takes advantage of high-throughput analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified through the so called HapMap project, a growing number of patient groups for whom DNA is available for analysis and advances in computational methods that enable such analysis and permit datasets to be combined. Indeed, one of the first GWA investigations of height was reviewed in GGH.⁵ This reviewed study has now been expanded substantially and joined by 3 other large GWA studies as reported in the May 2008 Nature Genetics. The new investigations have utilized more rigorous multi-stage experimental designs to analyze hundreds of thousands of SNP markers in ~63,000 individuals measured for adult height.

The report by Weedon et al identified 20 genetic variants which, in the aggregate, account for ~3% of height variation in adults of European ancestry. The identified SNP markers do not influence height per se, but they implicate genes within which or nearby to which they reside. One can envision how most of the candidate genes implicated in this manner could influence growth as they encompass growth factors and their receptors, proteins that interact with or alter the extracellular milieu of growth factors and proteins that modulate intracellular signaling or are linked to cell cycle regulation or cancer. Most notable here are Indian hedgehog (IHH), Hedgehog interacting protein (HHIP) and Patched 1 (PTCH1), which belong to the Hedgehog pathway, growth and differentiation factor 5 (GDF5), suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2) and cyclin-dependent kinase-6 (CDK6). The previous association with a marker near the high mobility group-A2 (HMGA2) gene locus was confirmed.

The report by Lettre et al identified 10 loci associated with height variation also in adults of European ancestry, 4 of which were the same as in the Weedon report including HHIP. These authors emphasized that 3 of the candidate genes—HMGA2, the histone methyltransferase DOT1L and the methyl-DNA-binding transcriptional repressor gene ZBT38—are involved in chromatin remodeling. They note that the 3’ untranslated region of HMGA2 contains the largest number of let-7 microRNA binding sites and that 3 of the other implicated genes, CDK6, DOT1L and LIN28B, a gene upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma, are considered targets of let-7. MicroRNAs, such as let-7, are small, nontranslated RNAs that down regulate expression of target genes.

The report by Gudbjartsson et al detected 27 genomic regions in which SNP variants were associated with adult height. Their data came from individuals with Icelandic, Dutch, European- and African-American ancestries and results accounted for 3.7% variation in adult height. Several of the implicated genes were the same as in the other 2 reports, but a few additional genes were indentified including BMP2, BMP6 and the TGF-β and BMP inhibitor, Noggin (NOG).

In contrast to the GGH abstract⁵ describing a single SNP association with adult height published in May 2008, these new reports identify 54 gene loci that influence variation in height in adults primarily of European descent. As noted in the accompanying editorial by Visscher,⁶ it is reassuring that SNPs previously observed to associate with height were confirmed, SNPs in 3 genes were found associated with height in all 3 studies, and 7 genes were implicated in 2 of the 3 investigations. It is not surprising that variation in genes involving growth factors or modulation of growth factor signaling pathways influence height. More intriguing and novel is the implication of genes involved in chromatin remodeling and in microRNA regulation of gene expression. The papers illustrated the power of GWA studies and also the necessity of very large sample sizes creating consortia of research groups and even consortia of consortia as stated by Visscher.⁶

William A. Horton, MD