Why Are Americans Getting Shorter? :

Recently a fascinating study appeared in the Social Science Quarterly. The results showed that:

Tallest in the world between colonial times and the middle of the 20th century, Americans by the 21st century are much more affluent but have become shorter (and fatter) than western and northern Europeans.

Unsurprisingly the study failed to garner much press coverage in the US.

Dutch women lead the charge - they are now on average 5.9 cm (2.3 inches) taller than US women. Dutch men are 4.9 cm taller (almost 2 inches) than US men (for more statistics read the full text ). This represents "almost an exact reversal of the relationship in the middle of the 19th century".

Why is this?
The study point to many factors - but there is one that is particularly applicable to us:

[...] we can conjecture that there are differences in the diet of U.S. and European children that could affect human growth. For example, U.S. children consume more meals prepared outside the home, more fast food rich in fat, high in energy density, and low in essential micronutrients, than do European children.

As sobering (and alarmist) as this sounds - I believe we may have peaked. It may appear that we are living longer (for the moment) - but I suspect we are propped up by a raft of medication.

I am thankful for many of the drugs that we have available to us - but I would rather we didn't get sick in the first place. Is our vertical shrinkage another warning sign that we are failing to heed?

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