USA used to be Tallest country in the world--but is now one of the Shortest of all developed nations

[kpete]

The Netherlands has the world’s tallest people, with an average male height of over 6 feet and average female of 5’7.” It’s also where incomes are highest. That’s no accident. People in wealthy countries are on-average significantly taller than people in poor ones, because they’re more likely to have better nutrition as kids. The United States used to be the tallest country in the world but is now one of the shortest of all developed nations (I assure you I’m not solely responsible for bringing down the average). Average heights have grown steadily across Europe since the 1960s, but the United States hasn't gotten significantly taller. European countries have done a good job ensuring all their citizens get adequate nutrition; we haven't. Low-income kids in America consume an inordinate amount of fast food. That’s bad for height. In a recent British study, one group of schoolchildren was given hamburgers, French fries, and other fast foods; the other got 1940’s-style wartime rations like boiled cabbage and corned beef. Within eight weeks, the children on the rations were both taller and slimmer than the ones on a regular diet.

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/824024077610190

[Travis_0004]

1. At 6'2" I'm doing my part

All you short people have let us down.

[WillyT]

2. Hey... 5' 10.5" Here...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. Sorry. I ate a lot of spam and peanut butter as a kid.

My parents were public sector, so they didn't make a lot of money upfront, so we ate cheap. On the other hand, they've both got decent pensions, which is extremely handy these days. It's too bad more people don't have pension plans any more.

[conservaphobe]

5. 6'4" here!

[LittleBlue]

4. The ethnic makeup of our nation is changing

The tallest people are northern European and they are shrinking as a % of the population. I don't think it has much to do with nutrition.

[mwrguy]

9. My Hispanic relatives are all very short

That is a growing segment of the population.

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. That's the first thing I thought of. Growing Latino population here.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. agreed. europeans, african americans taller than avg.

[Retrograde]

19. You can see this in the SF Bay Area

where people with ancestors from Central America and East Asia make up a large part of the population. I'm about average height for here. When I go to Nordic-heavy Wisconsin and Minnesota, though, I feel like I'm in a land of giants.

[Uncle Joe]

6. If the Netherlands has the world's tallest people, keep an eye on Colorado and Washington.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[kpete]

10. sweet response

Uncle Joe


peace,
kp

[malaise]

11. LOL

DUzy

[cali]

7. 5'7"- but I have a 6'2" son.

Oh, and I'm a woman.

[donco]

8. HHhmm...when

was Olive Garden founded?

[Demeter]

12. It's Genetics and Nutrition and Environment

but given a malnourished immigrant, whose children grow to be giants, the US still comes out ahead...for those we let come.

[JI7]

13. there could be many reasons for this including things like immigration, europe was also at War

which could have contributed to their shorter heights .

[LeftyMom]

14. In school I was usually one of the tallest girls in my class. I'm 5'2".

My classmates weren't malnourished, they were southeast asian- mostly Vietnamese. The average Vietnamese adult woman is 5'. Yes, that's measuring postwar populations who presumably aren't deprived.

Population height is a bad measure of health. It's only suggestive at all when the population is static- shifts in ethnic composition render it useless. It's somewhat useful when looking at a large sample of historical skeletal remains (for example we can compare the average height of pre-Roman Brits to the Romano-British to see the effect of the invasion on their access to food, or pre- and post- agrarian peoples in the Middle East to see what effects farming had on food security) but any more we have better ways of looking at a body's diet by looking at the chemistry of bones and teeth.

[Hekate]

23. Same here. In high school in Hawai'i I could look out over a sea of shorter girls, so I felt tall

Then we moved back to the mainland and my 5'4" height turned out to be kinda short. Even worse, my little sister shot up to almost 6 feet, so everyone in my immediate family says I'm a shrimp.

21st century America is a mixture of DNA from all over the planet, plus a diet on average that has us growing wider instead of taller.

[KentuckyWoman]

17. Still the fattest though.

[Jenoch]

24. Nope.

http://listcrux.com/top-10-fattest-countries-of-the-world/

[JI7]

25. i think Mexico has beat us in this

we can blame michelle obama

[KentuckyWoman]

28. haha

I can see the conversation in my head....

Wingnut -- Them Mexicans come here to steal our jobs.

Me - I don't think so. I read someplace Mexicans are actually fatter than Americans and that's saying something.

Wingnut -- what does that have to do with stealing our jobs.

Me -- well like Mitt Romney said, them Mexicans are only here doing the jobs Americans don't want to do. So most of them end up picking lettuce. Do you want to go out in the hot ass sun and pick lettuce all day?

Wingnut -- Not really.

Me -- Besides Michelle Obama keeps trying to shove her terrorist veggies down our throats and I think those fat Mexicans are really just coming up here to get some of those free Obamacare liberal veggies.

Wingnut -- Glazed over confused look.......

Me -- Come on, let's go eat 3 or 4 of those Hardees Monster Burger w/triple bacon and show Obama who's boss.....

[MisterP]

18. I think it's because we're not getting any new Dutch blood anymore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height#Average_height_around_the_world

[Cali_Democrat]

20. Well it ain't my fault

I'm over 6 feet.

[joshcryer]

21. Reich is wrong to make this an issue.

His conclusion is wrong.

[Drunken Irishman]

22. As mentioned in this thread, much of it is tied to the demographic changes of the US over the years

The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Sweden are some of the tallest countries in the world. The U.S.'s largest cultural background remains the Germans - but it's far less as influential as it once was.

But look at the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. (Hispanics, from Mexico) and you'll see why the height is changing: the average Mexican male is 5'7 feet tall.

[Rex]

26. 6' 1"

Glad I could do my part for my country!

[TexasTowelie]

27. Same here.