Tall people
May 10th, 2008
When I was living in New York City, about 5 years ago (gosh, time flies), I considered myself reasonably tall (I’m 1.76m, or 5′-9″) compared to the average American gal. And my husband, with his 1.91 m (6′-4″) literally stood out of the average crowd…
Until we would go to the monthly NL borrels gathering, where we would meet our Dutch friends and get drunk on Heineken beer instead of cocktails 
. Surrounded by fellow Dutchmen, I would immediately shrink to the size of a midget and my husband would definitely become one of the shorter guys around!
Did you know that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world? And did you know that until the 1950s, the American people held this position, but that since then they actually shrank a little while the Dutch (and other Northern European people) started shooting up? And did you know that this has more to do with an equal distribution of income and less with the fact that we drink a lot of milk?
If you want to know more about it, I suggest reading this article; it’s really interesting…
xxx Esther
Entry Filed under: Amsterdam, Interesting Articles
4 Comments Add your own
1. Michela | May 10th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
In Italy with my 1,68 or 5′6” I’m not short at all… in the Netherlands nobody would see me!!
2. Courtney | May 11th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I wish I would have inherited the Dutch ‘tallness’ gene from my Dutch father!! Instead I inherited the Dutch ’stubborn’ gene…
3. Antonella - Trento - Italy | May 16th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Ehehehe…I’m Italian and proudly 1,75 mt…
We are not all so short, Michela
But maybe it depends on the fact that I was born in Trentino from parents of this area, practically we are the highlanders of Italy!
Andreas is just 2 years old but everybody believes he’s 4!!!
Antonella Aunt of Andreas
4. Shanna | February 20th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
What the article failed to mention is that the U.S. has seen rapid immigration from some very impoverished regions of the world since the 1950s. Recent immigration from Latin America, the Caribbean and W. Africa may have led to a decrease in our national average stature as the people of those regions are generally of shorter stature. Holland and N. Europe is a rather homogenous region, particularly in comparison to the U.S. The economist in the article mentions that he is confused as to why a wealthy nation like the U.S. fails to invest more in its children. This is absolutely false. Healthcare and education are the U.S.’s biggest expenditures. I think when more time has passed and income distribution amongst the recently immigrated has had time to occur, a more accurate calculation can be derived.
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