America Comes Up Short
Many years ago, when I was a student in England, Europeans typically looked with envy at the American students. They stood out in any crowd because they were so tall and slim. Now several decades later, all that has changed and changed dramatically.
Two historians John Komlos and Benjamin Lauderdale have recently come out with a paper showing that while Americans were the "tallest in the world between colonial times and the middle of the 20th century,...we have now “become shorter (and fatter) than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries."
Height is a significant barometer of the health of a population.
Basically it reflects "how well the human organism thrives in its socioeconomic environment." Normally, there is a strong association between income and height--but amazingly, even high-status Americans are falling short in that "rich Americans are shorter than rich Western Europeans and poor white Americans are shorter than poor Western Europeans."
It is not possible at this point to determine the cause for this troubling finding. Naturally, people are focusing on our reliance on fast food which offers the double whammy of a high calorie-low nutrition diet.
But the problems seem to go beyond just food. Overall, the U.S. is showing many signs that we are failing our children. A recent UNICEF report compared child well-being in 21 rich countries on a number of measures including health and safety, family and peer relationships and such things as whether children eat fruit and are physically active. The country on top--the tiny Netherlands. Where did we place? Well, the U.S. ended up in 20th place, below Poland, Portugal and Hungary.
Findings such as these should represent a clarion call to action. If our children are to thrive and it we are to succeed as a nation, it is vital that we address these issues--and that we do so as soon as possible.
If you are interested in reading the full article, the reference is John Komlos & Benjamin E. Lauderdale (2007) Underperformance in Affluence: The Remarkable Relative Decline in U.S. Heights in the Second Half of the 20th Century. Social Science Quarterly 88 (2), 283–305.
