European men outstrip Americans

[emad]

BBC News snip:

America may lead the world in many areas - but it is falling behind in terms of physical stature.

Professor John Komlos, a German expert, analysed data from the last 200 years for around 250,000 people.

He found that while Europeans are getting increasingly taller, Americans have "stopped growing."

In the 1800s, the Dutch were, on average, three inches shorter than Americans - now they are around three inches taller.

More:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3625031.stm

Mmmm...don't know about this stopped growing stuff. My husband is nearly 6ft 8ins, my two eldest boys are level with him, and my youngest has only a few more inches to go before he stands level with them. And my girls are all 6ft (ok, five feet twelve inches)....

[TXlib]

1. It's all the damn junk food we eat.

[terrya]

3. Amen.

Junk food is a big part of that.

Terry

[kerryin2004]

2. Our ethnic diversity is the reason n/t

[GOPisEvil]

4. I accuse YOU America!

I was born in Europe, and lived there until I was 4. THEN we moved back to the US. I'm only 5'8". Now I know why! It's YOUR FAULT America! :cry:

Eh, well...whatever...

[emad]

5. So it can't have been 'something they put in the water'....????

??

[GOPisEvil]

6. Well...interesting question...

From birth to age two, we lived in Athens and not on a military installation. From 2-4, we lived on an Army post in Germany. So maybe the water on the Army post was "American", so I only got 2 years of the European water.

Of course, from Germany we went to Arkansas, so no telling what effect THAT had.

[emad]

7. Fluoride in the Danube/Rhine/Main???

Re Arkansas: wasn't Little Rock by any chance??

[GOPisEvil]

9. Well, it would have been the Fulda River.

But I'm guessing the "American bits" would have been added on the post. It might be interesting to see how "American" the people of Fulda look today. :7

It was Blytheville, not Little Rock.

[Soloflecks]

8. Americans are shrinking.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0%2C6903%2C1185387%2C00.html

Researchers have made a startling discovery: Americans are shrinking. A nation once famed for its strapping, well-nourished youth is gradually diminishing in physical stature.
snip>
This surprising reappraisal of American and European physiques is the work of researcher John Komlos of Munich University. 'Much of the difference is due to the great social inequality that now exists in the United States,' Komlos told The Observer last week. 'In Europe, there is - in most countries - good health service provision for most members of society and plenty of protein in most people's diets. As a result, children do not suffer illnesses that would blight their growth or suffer problems of malnutrition. For that reason, we have continued to grow and grow.'

On the other hand, America has eight million people with no job, 40 million individuals with no health insurance, 35 million living below the poverty line, and a population that exists mainly on junk food. There, the rise in average height that marked its progress as a nation through the 19th and 20th centuries has stopped and has actually reversed - albeit very slightly - in recent years. Many Americans are rich and do well anatomically as a result, but there is a large underclass that is starting to drag the country down the stature charts.