Body Size, Japanese vs U.S.

I expressed some of my annoyance at the difference between my size and that of the Japanese people I am surrounded by in a post about Nagashima Outlet Mall; I have since come across some data that supports the disparity that I deal with. In terms of height my height is nearly identical to the average Japanese male.

Country	Average male height	>Average female height
Japan	5' 7.5	5' 2.2>
U.S.*	5' 10.4	5' 4.9

For BMI, again, I align almost exactly with the average Japanese male in my age group.

Country	Average male BMI	Average female BMI
Japan	Just over 22 kg/m^2	Just over 20 kg/m^2
U.S.*		26.8 kg/m^2

*These values represent only my demographic and not the entire U.S. population

According to The WHO the cutoff for healthy weight is a BMI of 25, however in certain Asian populations the risk for health related medical conditions increases at BMIs lower than 25, and 23 is considered a more conservative upper limit. Despite the fact that I am the size of an average Japanese male, I do feel better knowing that people of my ethnicity evolved to be heavier than the people I am currently surrounded by.