The U.S. Is No Longer A Tall Tale

Americans No Longer Tallest Nationality; Dutch Are

(CBS/AP) 
That leaves environment to determine the differences in height between populations around the world, specifically the environment children experience from the moment of conception through adolescence. Any deficiency along the way, from poor prenatal care to early childhood disease or malnutrition, can prevent a person from reaching his or her full genetic height potential.

"We know environment can affect heights by three, four, five inches," said Steckel, who has done research on height trends in the United States during the 19th century.

The earliest stages of life are the most important to the human growth machine; at age 2 there is already about a 70 percent correlation between a child's height and his or her eventual adult stature.

All of this means a population's average height is a very sensitive indicator of its most vulnerable members' welfare.

Not surprisingly, rich countries tend to be taller simply because they have more resources to spend on feeding and caring for their children. But wealth doesn't necessarily guarantee that a society will give its children what they need to thrive.

In the Czech Republic, per capita income is barely half of what it is in the United States. Even so, Czechs are taller than Americans. So are Belgians, who collect 84 percent as much income as Americans.

And those height differences translate into real benefits. A number of studies have shown that disease and malnutrition early in life — the same things that limit a person's height — increase a person's chances of developing heart disease and other life-shortening conditions later on. Though tall people are more likely to get cancer, they suffer less mortality overall than short people.

International statistics bear it out. Life expectancy in the Netherlands is 79.11 years; in Sweden it's 80.63. America's life expectancy of 78.00 years puts it in somewhat shorter company, just above Cyprus and a few notches below Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"Obviously America is not doing badly. It's not at the level of developing nations," Komlos said. "But it's also not doing as well as it could."

His latest research paper, published in the June issue of Social Science Quarterly, suggests the blame may lie with America's poor diet and its expensive, inequitable health-care system.

"American children might consume more meals prepared outside of the home, more fast food rich in fat, high in energy density and low in essential micronutrients," wrote Komlos and co-author Benjamin E. Lauderdale of Princeton University. "Furthermore, the European welfare states provide a more comprehensive social safety net including universal health care coverage."

In the United States, by comparison, an estimated 9 million children have no health insurance.

Komlos' most recent data indicate a small uptick in the heights of white Americans born between 1975 and 1983, a suggestion that the gap may finally be closing. But there has been no similar increase among blacks, a suggestion that inequality may indeed play a significant role in the height gap.

In another recent paper, Komlos and Lauderdale also found height inequality between American urbanites and residents of suburbs and rural areas. In Kansas, for example, white males are about as tall as their European peers; it's big cities like New York, where men are about 1.75 inches shorter than that, that drag America's average down.

Now Komlos has started comparing the heights of children to determine at what age Americans begin falling behind their peers across the Atlantic. Not surprisingly, he sees a difference from birth, an observation that suggests prenatal care may be significant contributor factor to the height gap.

But it is unlikely that Komlos will ever find one simple factor to explain why Americans have fallen behind other rich countries in height. In all likelihood it is caused by a combination of things — a little bit health care, some diet, a sprinkling of economic inequality.

"In some ways it gets to the fundamentals of the American society, namely what is the ideology of the American society and what are the shortcomings of that ideology," Komlos said. "I would argue that to take good care of its children is not part of that ideology."

Whether that's true is debatable; the height gap doesn't measure how much Americans love their children. But at a minimum it does indicate — in raw feet and inches — whether the nation is giving its youngsters what they need to reach their full biological potential, or selling them short.

[zootallures2]

Not to mention, Mr. grazinggoat, according to NASA they slowed the capsule down so the LM could dock. But seeing the moon has less gravity, how did it hold further out to get enough swing to zoom home? Plus the moon rotates slower than the earth. 27.32 days. With out maintaining the momentum from the earth, they'd never get home. With this crazy science, the earth should go around the moon maybe?

[zootallures2]

"The U.S. Is No Longer A Tall Tale"
Between the controlled demolitions on 9/11 and the fake moon landing, the only thing growning is your noses. Oh, and the death and murder rate. But, you're still number one in prison inmates.
Posted by zootallures2 at 10:20 PM : Jul 16, 2007

-With your 'fake moon landing' you sound like a radiopost negationnist, of the early 20th century. Huh? How old are ya? whatever you answer, I'd tell you grow up... Zoot
Posted by grazinggoat at 10:39 PM : Jul 16, 2007

Who cares what you say? You are someone special? I'd say you've been watching to much Mister Rogers and living in the land of make believe. Amazing the size of the rocket it took to get off the earth and orbit. Yet the LM with it's tiny engine got off the moon and docked with this high speed capsule. With that science, the Shuttle should be able to launch with a catapolt. A good batter should be able to slug a baseball to the next state...lol.

[grazinggoat]

"The U.S. Is No Longer A Tall Tale"
Between the controlled demolitions on 9/11 and the fake moon landing, the only thing growning is your noses. Oh, and the death and murder rate. But, you're still number one in prison inmates.
Posted by zootallures2 at 10:20 PM : Jul 16, 2007

-With your 'fake moon landing' you sound like a radiopost negationnist, of the early 20th century. Huh? How old are ya? whatever you answer, I'd tell you grow up... Zoot

[zootallures2]

"The U.S. Is No Longer A Tall Tale"

Between the controlled demolitions on 9/11 and the fake moon landing, the only thing growning is your noses. Oh, and the death and murder rate. But, you're still number one in prison inmates.

[grazinggoat]

thank you illegals...
Posted by lars008 at 11:49 AM : Jul 16, 2007

-arse008 gotta be pretty tall, since he has nothing in the brain 'box'... except for a dry dead neurotic center allowing him to post filthy thoughts, hence empty vase could not weight down on his body. lol! How tall are ya arsey?

[weareone2]

Also, emotional abuse can cause a child to stop growing.

Looking at how compulsively abusive some of the people who post comments here are, their children are probably shorter than they would otherwise be.

[vancouverboo]

Would it be politically incorrect to mention the little brown people pouring up from the south and breeding, breeding, breeding?


Or the little brown people coming over from India to work on our computers?

[a-ji]

Anybody who calls me shorty will get punched in the kneecap.
Posted by Extremophil at 10:04 AM : Jul 16, 2007


Yeah!! an I'll bite him on the ankle too!!!
Posted by ToolMangler at 05:22 PM : Jul 16, 2007

And a headbat on the groin! Bring it on! grrrrrrr!

[toolmangler-2009]

Anybody who calls me shorty will get punched in the kneecap.
Posted by Extremophil at 10:04 AM : Jul 16, 2007


Yeah!! an I'll bite him on the ankle too!!!

[iceman_1960]

"Hummmmmmmmmm, strange I never heard of their [Dutch] basketball team."
- Posted by thgdriver at 12:31 PM : Jul 16, 2007

Did you ever try playing basketball in wooden shoes ?