Culture and Body Type

             It is suggested by Heine (2012) that culture is not only influencing the way we act and think but it is also influencing the way in which our bodies develop. There is a link between culture and height, weight, and even health. It seems to me that the main link here is socio-economic status and what we are able to buy. For example culture is influenced with height but it appears to be based on the fact that when we belong to a culture that has a high average socio-economic status one would be able to purchase more healthy foods and thus would in turn promote growth. If people had access to vitamins and nutrients during all the critical growth periods there is a strong potential that they would be able to grow to their maximum potential height.

            This seemed to be particularly pertinent in my home. It seems as though there is only so much one can do to increase their height. My brother is a hockey player and he was really feeling the pressure of his size in that he felt that he really needed to grow taller as well as bigger. He spent the summer eating well and exercising in an attempt to grow. He would measure his height quite frequently. This seems relevant to the idea that we do have some control over our bodies based solely on the culture we belong to and our socioeconomic status.

            Another point I found very interesting was that socioeconomic status is linked to heath. To elaborate, there appears to be a clear relationship between mortality and socioeconomic status, meaning those who have the highest socioeconomic status will live longer than those who don’t. This seemed to surprise me; those who make the most money will live the longest? It seemed from previous reading from this course based on happiness that happiness and subjective well-being were linked to longevity. These two ideas seem contradicting in a sense to me. The majority of the time it seems that those who make more money are more likely to have more stress associated with their work and this an opposite feeling to happiness which as been shown to increase longevity.

            To relate this idea to my own life I consider the employment of my parents. My father is a middle school vice principal while my mother works for the school board. My mother’s job pays more than my fathers and is also much more demanding, as she doesn’t have the summer vacation and tends to work longer days. My mother also seems to be much more stressed about her job than my father causing her to loose sleep often. With these differences it seems hard to say who will live longer and if there is a difference in their overall happiness and what the long-term effects of stress are.