Abstract
This study reports an analysis of the correlation between the body sizes of students and annual mean temperature data derived from the Mesh climatic data of 47 prefectures in Japan. There was a significant correlation between the annual mean temperature and body size: the lower the temperature, the larger the body size. Such factors as regional differences in the nutrition intake and genetic adaptation of Bergmann's rule were considered to explain the regional correlation of temperature and body size. However, the physiological decrease in food intake caused by the inhibiting effect of temperature was regarded as the most plausible reason. This was reinforced by the differences in nutrition intake across the regions being homogeneous. The inhibiting effect of temperature on food intake is therefore considered to be the dominant reason behind the regional difference of body size in Japan.
