The Height Gap

There was an interesting article in The New Yorker several years ago on this topic.

Not only did it speak less anecdotally and marshaled more facts, but it paints a bleaker picture for Americans.

Now average height potential is a different thing from some abnormalities and genetic flukes. ( Many of which were mentioned in the more recent article as though they shed light on the topic.)

But the basic thesis is that height is an indicator of health; specifically the mother's health when carrying the child and her overall health stemming from the previous generation. This is why it can take a couple of generations after immigration to see the greater height in offspring of immigrants from poorer nations.

And average height is a great indicator of good health being spread more evenly through a population; rather than being confined to a small group of "haves."

What's remarkable in the Dutch taking over from the Americans isn't the consistent gradual improvements in The Netherlands, so much as the regress of Americans from the mid-century mark.

Dante