I have heard that the average height for Japanese people has increased since the World War Two generation, due to differences in diet. I was wondering if the same is true for African Pygmies. I would also like to know exactly how tall they are. Thanks for any information!
I’ve also heard part of the Japanese rising heights attributed to the increasing use of chairs in Japan.
There are a variety of pygmy groups scattered across Central Africa. “Pygmies” are defined as groups with an average height of less than 5 feet; some average less than 4’ 10".
While I have not been able to find any studies on the question, it is unlikely that pygmies have been getting much taller. Unlike the Japanese, pygmy diets probably haven’t changed very much in recent decades. They are pretty much marginalized in African societies, and discriminated against. Therefore their nutrition is probably not much better than in the past, and it could be worse since in many areas the game they used to hunt has been depleted. The pygmies I have met have been pretty short.
Intermarriage does take place with taller Bantu groups, but it is between pygmy women and Bantu males. The women and their children become part of the Bantu tribe. Male pygmies rarely if ever have children with Bantu women. One site suggested that because od increased intermarriage in some places, some Bantu tribes were becoming smaller.
Even with better nutrition, it may be unlikely that pygmies would grow much taller; their short height is due to the genetic lack of an insulin-like growth factor.