The study, which examined the height and weight of almost 10,000 people from 14 European countries, suggests a link between the genes that increase a person's height and those that produce a reduced body weight.

Researchers found the genes that result in greater height correlate strongly with the genes that produce a reduced body mass index (BMI).

It could also help to explain why people from northern European countries - like Sweden, Norway and Finland - have a reputation for being long and lean. That - as well as being taller and slimmer than other Europeans.

On average, only 24 per cent of the genetic variation in height and eight per cent of the genetic variation in BMI could be explained by regional differences.

Author said “genetic variation between countries could explain national differences in height, but environmental factors were the main determinant of a population's BMI.”

"This suggests that differences in diet, for example, are more imprtant than genetics in creating differences in BMI among nations."

The study is published in the journal Nature Genetics.

http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/leggy-and-lean-genes-are-linked