Definition
Body measurements are the specific characteristics of a patient, such as height, weight, girth, waist-to-hip ratio and shoe size. Usually these sizes correlate approximately with each other, which means that a particularly large patient usually also has a larger shoe size and weighs more than a 30cm smaller patient. To determine the relationship between height and weight there is the Body Mass Index, short BMI.
The body size of a patient depends on various factors, for example on the genetic component and on the sex. On average, men achieve a greater height than women, although there are differences here too. In general, women increase in height up to about 15 years of age.
After that there is a stop in growth. This is due to the fact that the so-called epiphyseal fugue in the bones closes, since the bone has grown from both sides and “collides” with each other in the middle. The width of the epiphyseal fugue thus provides information about how tall a girl or boy will approximately become.
In boys, the pineal fugue closes much later and the longitudinal growth is only completed at about 21 years of age. Once this body size, namely the height, has been reached, a patient retains his or her height for a long time. However, depending on the load on the spine, the patient then begins to shrink again at the age of 55-70 years, even if only by a few centimeters.
The reason for this is usually the fact that the spine cannot hold the load permanently and the pressure pads (intervertebral discs) between the bony vertebral bodies are increasingly compressed. As a result, the patient loses a few centimeters in the course of his or her life. In addition, many patients in old age adopt a stooped position, which then also leads to a loss of several centimeters in height.
Overall, a patient can become up to 5 centimeters shorter as he or she ages. The average height in Germany among 18-80 year olds is 1.72m. Women are slightly smaller, the average height is only 1.65m.
Men have an average height of 1.78m, which is higher than men. Weight has become an increasingly important dimension, as many patients now suffer from significant overweight (obesity), which is a growing burden on their health. The weight should always increase according to age and height until the patient has reached his “final height”.
However, weight alone does not necessarily have anything to say about the patient’s figure. Since muscle mass weighs considerably more than pure fat, it is possible that an unathletic person weighs less than a well-trained athlete of the same height. Nevertheless, the athletic person probably lives a much healthier life.
Therefore, it is important not to walk only by weight, but at the same time weight is a well controllable body measure. The average body weight in Germany is 76.3kg. This means that Germany is slightly overweight due to the average height of 1.72m, with a BMI of more than 25. Weight has become one of the most important body measurements in our society today, as overweight is a risk factor for many diseases that are frequently present in Germany (for example diabetes mellitus, gout, heart disease or arteriosclerosis). Apart from the predominance (adiposity) plays however also the underweight, frequently developed by anorexia or also the Bulimie an important role in our society, since particularly in the media the beauty ideal embodies clear underweight.
