# Why are people taller today than in the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913 "2015-12-09T06:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/41 "2015-12-11T00:32:05Z")
I wonder about hormones and hormone-like compunds. It seems everyone I know with teenagers has kids who are taller than they are. Same thing is happening in our family. I don’t feel like we were starved growing up. In fact, we were ordered to “clean our plates”, something we don’t ask of our kids. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/42 "2015-12-11T02:16:11Z")
Dairy Products. Increased intake of calcium and phosphorous increasing bone mass. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/43 "2015-12-11T02:19:16Z")
I’m taller than I was in the past. I was quite short as a young kid. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/44 "2015-12-11T18:30:34Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Oh so you are saying the western diet is mostly protein and very little fruit and vegetables? > > The western diet has way too much protein? I’m not sure what you’re asking. My point is that people are generally taller today because people are generally eating a better diet. I don’t think the specifics of the current western diet are especially relevant unless you’re comparing it to the average western diet of 1800. I’m afraid I don’t have the time or inclination to do that research. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/45 "2015-12-13T01:54:09Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re asking. > > My point is that people are generally taller today because people are generally eating a better diet. > > I don’t think the specifics of the current western diet are especially relevant unless you’re comparing it to the average western diet of 1800. I’m afraid I don’t have the time or inclination to do that research. Some of the people above said western diet is really really really bad. I think he saying high protein and little fruit and vegetables that western have. > [@](#): > > I’m taller than I was in the past. I was quite short as a young kid. Are you Dutch? They really tall but very skinny. A really short feet than people else where. The terrifying stairs.:eek::eek: Impossibly steep stairs (aka: the death “trap [http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2012/09/02/no-35-impossibly-steep-stairs-aka-the-death-trap/](http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2012/09/02/no-35-impossibly-steep-stairs-aka-the-death-trap/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/46 "2015-12-13T08:12:22Z")
sweat209 writes: \> Why are black guys so much taller than black girls? Some black guys are even at 6 \> foot tall or even higher. Yes Black people in The US. Do you ever bother to look anything up? This is wrong. The difference between average male height and average female height is almost exactly the same for blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. It’s about 7 or 8% difference in each case. In fact, in nearly every country in the world the ratio of average male height to average female height is such that the males are about 7 to 8% taller: > **[Human height](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height)** > > Human height or stature is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body, standing erect. It is measured using a stadiometer, in centimetres when using the metric system or SI system, or feet and inches when using United States customary units or the imperial system. > In the early phase of anthropometric research history, questions about height techniques for measuring nutritional status often concerned genetic differences. > Height is also important because it ... ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/47 "2015-12-13T12:12:32Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Some of the people above said western diet is really really really bad. > > I think he saying high protein and little fruit and vegetables that western have. > > Are you Dutch? They really tall but very skinny. A really short feet than people else where. > > The terrifying stairs.:eek::eek: > > Impossibly steep stairs (aka: the death “trap > [http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2012/09/02/no-35-impossibly-steep-stairs-aka-the-death-trap/](http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2012/09/02/no-35-impossibly-steep-stairs-aka-the-death-trap/) Not quite sure where you’re going with the stairs thing, but the steepness of the staircases in Amsterdam canalside houses has nothing to do with the height of the population, and everything to do with history; houses were taxed on their width, which led to a preponderance of tall, skinny buildings, which in turn necessitated steeper-pitched staircases. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/48 "2015-12-22T03:41:55Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > sweat209 writes: > > \> Why are black guys so much taller than black girls? Some black guys are even at 6 > \> foot tall or even higher. Yes Black people in The US. > > Do you ever bother to look anything up? This is wrong. The difference between average male height and average female height is almost exactly the same for blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. It’s about 7 or 8% difference in each case. In fact, in nearly every country in the world the ratio of average male height to average female height is such that the males are about 7 to 8% taller: > > [Human height - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) No what I was trying to say is you don’t really see a lot of tall 6 foot tall black girls or taller than that like you do white girls or the Dutch people. If you looking at average white girl height and average black girls height than you probably right they look closer in height. But than there are some really tall white girls 6 feet tall or more that I just don’t really see many black girls that tall. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/49 "2015-12-22T14:20:00Z")
sweat209 writes: \> No what I was trying to say is you don’t really see a lot of tall 6 foot tall black girls \> or taller than that like you do white girls or the Dutch people. Do you actually have any statistics showing that there are proportionally much fewer very tall black women than very tall white women? The statistics say that the difference between the average height of white and black women in the U.S. is very small. On average white American women are a fraction of an inch taller than average black American women. Do you ever bother to look up statistics at all? I obviously can’t argue with your random personal observations. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/50 "2015-12-22T14:36:44Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The statistics say that the difference between the average height of white and black women in the U.S. is very small. On average white American women are a fraction of an inch taller than average black American women. Of course there are black peoples that average noticeably taller than either American set. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/51 "2015-12-22T15:10:32Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > No what I was trying to say is you don’t really see a lot of tall 6 foot tall black girls or taller than that like you do white girls or the Dutch people. I’m not sure you are very good at estimating heights, since you seem shocked to realize that there are African-American males who are over six feet. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/52 "2015-12-22T15:20:14Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > But than there are some really tall white girls 6 feet tall or more that I just don’t really see many black girls that tall. Take a look at the WNBA - the league is full of tall black women. Your personal observations aren’t much use in this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913/53 "2015-12-22T15:21:14Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > sweat209 writes: > > \> Why are black guys so much taller than black girls? Some black guys are even at 6 > \> foot tall or even higher. Yes Black people in The US. > > Do you ever bother to look anything up? This is wrong. The difference between average male height and average female height is almost exactly the same for blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. It’s about 7 or 8% difference in each case. In fact, in nearly every country in the world the ratio of average male height to average female height is such that the males are about 7 to 8% taller: > > [Human height - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) The section on the history of human height is interesting: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > A 2004 report citing a 2003 UNICEF study on the effects of malnutrition in North Korea, due to “successive famines,” found young adult males to be significantly shorter.[specify] In contrast South Koreans “feasting on an increasingly Western-influenced diet,” without famine, were growing taller. The height difference is minimal for Koreans over 40, who grew up at a time when economic conditions in the North were roughly comparable to those in the South, while height disparities are most acute for Koreans who grew up in the mid-1990s – a demographic in which South Koreans are about 12 cm (4.7 in) taller than their North Korean counterparts – as this was a period during which the North was affected by a harsh famine.[50] A study by South Korean anthropologists of North Korean children who had defected to China found that 18-year-old males were 5 inches shorter than South Koreans their age due to malnutrition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-taller-today-than-in-the-past/739913.md?page=2)