February 11, 2009 4:32 PM
- Text
The U.S. Is No Longer A Tall Tale
(CBS/AP)
America used to be the tallest country in the world.
CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston asked people in New York's Times Square, "Who are the tallest people in the world?"
"Switzerland?" said Nicole.
"Switzerland maybe?" said Chrissy.
"African," said Jada Ruffin
"Chinese," answered John.
China received several vote, perhaps because of certain nba basketball players or recent news stories featuring the world's tallest man, who was married last week. He's 7 feet 9 inches.
But the most common answer — Americans — is the wrong answer.
In fact it's the Dutch.
"The Dutch? The Dutch, oh, wow," was the reaction from Carol and Elaine in Times Square.
In the Netherlands, the tallest country in the world, the typical man is now measures 6 feet, a good two inches more than his average American counterpart.
From the days of the founding fathers right on through the industrial revolution and two world wars, Americans literally towered over other nations. In a land of boundless open spaces and limitless natural abundance, the young nation transformed its increasing wealth into human growth.
But just as it has in so many other arenas, America's predominance in height has faded. Americans reached a height plateau after World War II, gradually falling behind the rest of the world as it continued growing taller.
By the time the baby boomers reached adulthood in the 1960s, most northern and western European countries had caught up with and surpassed the United States. Young adults in Japan and other prosperous Asian countries now stand nearly as tall as Americans do.
Even residents of the formerly communist East Germany are taller than Americans today.
Compare that to 1850, when the situation was reversed. The people of all the nations of western Europe stood 2½ inches shorter than their American brethren.
Does it really matter? Does being taller give the Dutch any advantage over say, the Chinese (men 5 feet, 4.9 inches; women 5 feet, 0.8 inches) or the Brazilians (men 5 feet, 6.5 inches; women 5 feet, 3 inches)?
Many economists would argue that it does matter, because height is correlated with numerous measures of a population's well-being.
"People who live in rich countries tend to be tall," Ohio State University economist Richard Steckel told CBS News.
Tall people are healthier, wealthier and live longer than short people. Some researchers have even suggested that tall people are more intelligent.
It's not that being tall actually makes you smarter, richer or healthier. It's that the same things that make you tall — a nutritious diet, good prenatal care and a healthy childhood — also benefit you in those other ways.
"Average height is very sensitive to inequality. The poor, to the extent they aren't getting good nutrition, good health care, they will not grow," said Steckel.
That makes height a good indicator for economists who are interested in measuring how well a nation provides for its citizens during their prime growing years. With one simple, easily collected statistic, economists can essentially measure how well a society prepares its children for life.
"This is the part of the society that usually eludes economists, because economists are usually thinking about income. And this is the part of the society that doesn't earn an income," said John Komlos, an economic historian at the University of Munich who was born in Hungary, grew up in Chicago, and has spent the last quarter century compiling data on the heights of nations.
Height tells you about a segment of the population that is invisible to traditional economic statistics. Children don't have jobs or own houses. They don't buy durable goods, or invest in the stock market. But obviously, investments in their well-being are critical to a nation's economic future.
For several years now, Komlos and other researchers have been trying to figure out exactly why the United States fell behind. How could the wealthiest country in the world, during the most robust economic expansion in its history, simply stop growing?
"It's absolutely fascinating," said Eileen Crimmins, a demographer at the University of Southern California. "Maybe we've reached the point where we're going to go backwards in height."
Like many human traits, an individual's height is determined by a mix of genes and environment. Some experts put the contribution of genes at 40 percent, some at 70 percent, some even higher. But they all agree that aside from African pygmies and a few similar exceptions, most populations have about the same genetic potential for height.
CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston asked people in New York's Times Square, "Who are the tallest people in the world?"
"Switzerland?" said Nicole.
"Switzerland maybe?" said Chrissy.
"African," said Jada Ruffin
"Chinese," answered John.
China received several vote, perhaps because of certain nba basketball players or recent news stories featuring the world's tallest man, who was married last week. He's 7 feet 9 inches.
But the most common answer — Americans — is the wrong answer.
In fact it's the Dutch.
"The Dutch? The Dutch, oh, wow," was the reaction from Carol and Elaine in Times Square.
In the Netherlands, the tallest country in the world, the typical man is now measures 6 feet, a good two inches more than his average American counterpart.
From the days of the founding fathers right on through the industrial revolution and two world wars, Americans literally towered over other nations. In a land of boundless open spaces and limitless natural abundance, the young nation transformed its increasing wealth into human growth.
But just as it has in so many other arenas, America's predominance in height has faded. Americans reached a height plateau after World War II, gradually falling behind the rest of the world as it continued growing taller.
By the time the baby boomers reached adulthood in the 1960s, most northern and western European countries had caught up with and surpassed the United States. Young adults in Japan and other prosperous Asian countries now stand nearly as tall as Americans do.
Even residents of the formerly communist East Germany are taller than Americans today.
Compare that to 1850, when the situation was reversed. The people of all the nations of western Europe stood 2½ inches shorter than their American brethren.
Does it really matter? Does being taller give the Dutch any advantage over say, the Chinese (men 5 feet, 4.9 inches; women 5 feet, 0.8 inches) or the Brazilians (men 5 feet, 6.5 inches; women 5 feet, 3 inches)?
Many economists would argue that it does matter, because height is correlated with numerous measures of a population's well-being.
"People who live in rich countries tend to be tall," Ohio State University economist Richard Steckel told CBS News.
Tall people are healthier, wealthier and live longer than short people. Some researchers have even suggested that tall people are more intelligent.
It's not that being tall actually makes you smarter, richer or healthier. It's that the same things that make you tall — a nutritious diet, good prenatal care and a healthy childhood — also benefit you in those other ways.
"Average height is very sensitive to inequality. The poor, to the extent they aren't getting good nutrition, good health care, they will not grow," said Steckel.
That makes height a good indicator for economists who are interested in measuring how well a nation provides for its citizens during their prime growing years. With one simple, easily collected statistic, economists can essentially measure how well a society prepares its children for life.
"This is the part of the society that usually eludes economists, because economists are usually thinking about income. And this is the part of the society that doesn't earn an income," said John Komlos, an economic historian at the University of Munich who was born in Hungary, grew up in Chicago, and has spent the last quarter century compiling data on the heights of nations.
Height tells you about a segment of the population that is invisible to traditional economic statistics. Children don't have jobs or own houses. They don't buy durable goods, or invest in the stock market. But obviously, investments in their well-being are critical to a nation's economic future.
For several years now, Komlos and other researchers have been trying to figure out exactly why the United States fell behind. How could the wealthiest country in the world, during the most robust economic expansion in its history, simply stop growing?
"It's absolutely fascinating," said Eileen Crimmins, a demographer at the University of Southern California. "Maybe we've reached the point where we're going to go backwards in height."
Like many human traits, an individual's height is determined by a mix of genes and environment. Some experts put the contribution of genes at 40 percent, some at 70 percent, some even higher. But they all agree that aside from African pygmies and a few similar exceptions, most populations have about the same genetic potential for height.
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