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Apparently Americans aren't only getting heavier, but also shorter.
As a people, Americans were the tallest in the world by the 1800s, propelled by abundant land and cheap food. But today, access to modern medicine does more to determine height than do natural resources.
While genetics play a supporting role, but the world you were born into really determines your height.
Height had slipped among 19-year-old Americans in the late 1990s and 2000s. Nineteen-year-old American men were the 36th-tallest globally in 1985, but by 2019, they were 47th. Women the same age fell from 38th to 58th, behind China and Lebanon.
Don't you think this has to do with the fact that ethnically shorter people have moved to the United States in the past decades?
I am a fifth-generation American of Dutch descent. A female, six feet tall. Both my grandmothers, born in 1892 and 1907, were 5'8" tall. The Dutch are the tallest people in the world. (I read an article that credits all the cheese they eat.) A lot of Dutch people settled in what's now the US in the early years of this country. Other tall northern Europeans came here earlier, too. There are some very tall Black people. I see more Black women up here at my height level than I do women of European descent. Southern Europeans tend to be shorter.
But Asian people are definitely shorter overall, and many, many Asians have moved to the United States in the past thirty years or so. That's likely to be part of the reason our overall average height has changed.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Part of it could just be the aging of America, with so many in the 60-80 year old group now. I know myself at 71 I am about 1-1/2" shorter than what is on my driver's license carried over from age 16. I have however, updated my weight, which is higher, of course. We do lose height with age, 1/2" every 10 years after age 40, they say, due to spinal compression.
Apparently Americans aren't only getting heavier, but also shorter.
As a people, Americans were the tallest in the world by the 1800s, propelled by abundant land and cheap food. But today, access to modern medicine does more to determine height than do natural resources.
While genetics play a supporting role, but the world you were born into really determines your height.
Height had slipped among 19-year-old Americans in the late 1990s and 2000s. Nineteen-year-old American men were the 36th-tallest globally in 1985, but by 2019, they were 47th. Women the same age fell from 38th to 58th, behind China and Lebanon.
Nothing that you have posted above indicates that Americans are getting shorter (on average). It's quite possible that the people of many other countries are simply getting taller and, thereby, American's ranking in height is falling in comparison to the other countries.
I couldn't read your link because it requires me to give them my email address which I refuse to do.
Other than the obvious explanation of immigration from Mexico and central America, who tend to be short. I'd suggest another reason - the rest of the world is eating better, so more people are reaching their genetic potential for height. Over the last several decades, nutrition has become so cheap, that now all but the poorest countries have enough to eat.
Don't you think this has to do with the fact that ethnically shorter people have moved to the United States in the past decades?
I am a fifth-generation American of Dutch descent. A female, six feet tall. Both my grandmothers, born in 1892 and 1907, were 5'8" tall. The Dutch are the tallest people in the world.
No joke. When I visited Holland (Netherlands) I felt like I was amongst a bunch of clones. For the first time in my life many of the women were at eye level with me. I'm of German descent and also almost 6ft tall. When people see me and my son together they think we're twins, only he's a couple inches taller. I ended up taller than both of my parents by at least an inch. My German grandfather born in the early 1900s was well over 6 feet tall.
Regarding the national averages, it definitely makes a difference to break it down by race. "America" is a melting pot, you can't quantify average weights and heights across all the races and hereditary backgrounds. Breaking it down by race is not racist, it's scientifically data-driven.
Another comment tagging off my post and MightyQueen, for those of European descent. There are still homes and buildings in northern Europe from the 1500s with the original doorways and they are really small! Like most people must have been 5'5" max. In school it was taught that the agriculture and consumption of high protein wheat was what aided people in growing to the heights they are today.
Another comment tagging off my post and MightyQueen, for those of European descent. There are still homes and buildings in northern Europe from the 1500s with the original doorways and they are really small! Like most people must have been 5'5" max. In school it was taught that the agriculture and consumption of high protein wheat was what aided people in growing to the heights they are today.
The role of improvevd nutrition, especially protein, for increased height of a population is is certainly true and has been documented much more recently in Japan. The average height of Japanese nationals has increased about 10cm from the end of WWII to today, due largely to much better nutrition.
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