When you take the collected heights, waist sizes and body mass indexes of American men, you emerge with a 5 ft 8 in tall man with a 39" waist and a body mass index of 29. This is compared to the 'average' 5 ft 6 in tall Japanese male with 32.6" waist and 23.7 BMI. In the Netherlands, the representational man would be just over 6 foot tall, with a 36" waist and a 25.2 BMI.

These figures might prove a little abstract when written that way, so Nickolay Lamm has used computer graphics to create mock-up images of what these average male specimens might look like. Picking four samples - the three aforementioned countries as well as France - Lamm compares and contrasts the models. They illustrate the intriguing differences that can exist - the Dutch man towers above the others, for example, while a slightly larger midriff is one of the few major factors that differentiates the American from the Frenchman.

Lamm also suggests some reasons for the discrepancies. Diets, naturally, are a major reason: he cites the high, growth-friendly 'milk and cheese' consumption in the Netherlands as a possible cause for their tallness. The less consistent mealtimes in the US, meanwhile, could help explain the large waistlines there (an attitude, Lamm proposes, that is also catching on in France).

You can see a lineup of the renders below, or visit MyDeals for a look at more comparisons and examples. Although not visualised here, the average Irish male is 5 ft 10 in tall, while a waist size over 37" is considered to be overweight.

As good an opportunity as any to post this little gem as well:

Simple Kid - "Average Man" from Ben Unwin on Vimeo.

(Images: source)