Many are cultivated for their height and attractive foliage.
But paying a steep price for their height rankles some travelers.
Today, the typical American is overweight, according to the C.D.C., which estimates that 64percentt of American citizens are carrying too many pounds for their height.
"I said to him that the two most famous people in South Africa are also famous for their height," recalled Matlala.
More than a third (36%) of black Caribbean and black African children were too heavy for their height, compared with 17% of Pakistani children and 21% of white children.
These experts say that until recently they would point to height-weight charts and tell fat people that their goal should be to get to what the chart said was an optimal weight for their height.
More than half the men were within the normal range for weight for their height, and three out of four were non-smokers – those obvious differences were all taken into account in the analysis of the results.
According to Save the Children, 48.6% of children under five in Bangladesh are stunted or short for their age; 13.3% are wasted or underweight for their height; and 37.4% are underweight or low weight for their age.
They came up with a pair of oversized dolls, Big Boy and Dolly, that, but for their height, perfectly resemble vintage children's dolls and their faces carry the right expression, a combination of awestruck and trancelike.
In fact, a lot of people are concerned that a growing number of children today are considered obese -- that is, they weigh significantly more than what would be considered a healthy weight for their height.
All of the children in the study were properly restrained in the correct child safety or booster seat for their height and weight, according to the manufacturers' recommendations printed on the seats.
