In the South and Hawaii I am asked how tall I am almost every day. At 5'9 1/2 I am considered very tall, although in parts of Oregon no one asks my height. So are people getting taller in the United States or not?
It turns out that Europeans are getting taller but Americans are not. The observation about height, however, still is related somewhat to demographics in the United States, because there are racial groups whose height overall is less due to the height of the people over generations and the genetic factors. On the whole, however, authorities relate that Americans aren't getting taller,
they are getting shorter or aren't growing at all, except outward.
Recently on a story about a man having to be cut shorter for a coffin, the question of height was posed. One journalist declared that adjustments would likely be needed because of increases in height. That would be true of some countries, but on average not in the United States. In 2007 this source reported from a science outlet:
America used to be the country with the tallest population. That’s right, used to be. All of the teasing that Americans have done to Asians over the years and bragging about our basketball skills is no longer appropriate. In fact, it hasn’t been accurate for years. Since Wold War II, Americans have ceased to grow taller as the rest of the world continues, with western Europeans eventually passing us up in average statistics as far back as the 1960’s. Now, even prosperous Asian countries are about the same height as Americans.
As of February this year these were the statistics on the
height of Americans: Average height for an American male is 5 feet 9.2 inches, for a female, 5 feet 3.8 inches.
According to social science statistics in the Social Science Quarterly reported in 2007 and updated for discussion in 2008, Americans are falling behind Europeans. Where once Americans outstripped their European counterparts in height, the reverse is now the case. In comparing the heights in the year 2000, as contrasted with the present, American men were at 5 feet 10 inches and women at 5 feet five inches. This discrepancy with the present may be that different groups within the demographics were studied, but suffice to say, Americans have fallen short of their standing as among the world's tallest. The same social science publication observed that a number of Northern European countries rank the highest in height. The Dutch are ranked as the tallest at 6 feet for the men and 5-feet-7-inches for the women.
America and North Korea are among the countries where people are losing height, which many say has to do with diet.
Since I am West European extraction, mostly English and Irish, one would consider genetically I would be tall, but with some Native American thrown in and along with diet and age, one might think I would be average height but a little taller than women younger than me, which observationally seems to be the case. Perhaps the fact I haven't lost inches, as many women have as they grow older, and a healthy diet, have kept me tall. Authorities declare that for Americans it is the demographics, mixing of ancestries, diet and a number of factors that contribute to decline in height. Who knows, but height is an interesting topic that people are willing to disclose.
Now can I ask the next person how much they weigh?
