Despite What They Tell You, Americans Are NOT Getting Taller

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ThatFlyShortGuy
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Despite What They Tell You, Americans Are NOT Getting Taller
post #1

https://priceonomics.com/where-are-the-tallest-people-in-the-world/

Came across this article which pretty much sums up what those who are aware already know. While height in the Eurpoean low countries has been increasing over the last 50-100 years, height here in the U.S.A. has stagnated. No matter what crappy anecdotes your younger colleagues are telling you ("All of the guys in my freshmen classes are 6' on average), Americans now are the same height or in some cases shorter than 50 years ago and no, "immigration is not brining it down".

Interesting facts:

       
  • The U.S. ranks 40th for height and height has been in steady decline since the 50s. (Graph http://imgur.com/a/PCyMn)
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  • Height worldwide stagnated since the 70s. (Graph http://imgur.com/a/DYMmU)
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  • Researchers believe that the Dutch have reached the limits of human height
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  • Immigrants are NOT bringing American height averages down. White Americans Males have stalled at 5'9.5 (CDC)
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  • Canadians are taller than Americans
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  • Americans were almost the tallest country in the world in 1900 (117 years ago FYI)
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CorporateGuy
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Re: Despite What They Tell You, Americans Are NOT Getting Taller
post #2

I completely believe this. Here on Wall Street, the vast majority of Stockbrokers are at or above 6 feet. There are short ones but they are vastly outnumbered. In a lot of white collar jobs I see the same thing. Here is the thing though. I believe that the sexual selection and heightism intercept in the business world. 

When I walk through New York, there are PLENTY of short men everywhere, but they are not working the top jobs. There is a weak correlation between height and intelligence, but I believe that employers are selecting for height as women are in dating. People just don't talk about this stuff.

A good example is this 90s documentary where this employer is candid about hiring a good looking tall man for his company

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CorporateGuy
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Re: Despite What They Tell You, Americans Are NOT Getting Taller
post #3

TL:DR - Americans aren't getting taller, but this idea that we are is about circumstance and location. Here in Brooklyn there are plenty of short white guys. They outnumber the tall easily. 

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fanoffans
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Re: Despite What They Tell You, Americans Are NOT Getting Taller
post #4

The original study says the US ranks 37th in terms of height with an average height of 5'10. But this is misleading because they only measured 20 year old men. If we were to include all ages, the US would easily be in the top 10 tallest countries.

Also, the average young Caucasian American is 5'11 (https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1216&context=facpub). So white Americans are equally as tall as young Scandinavians, and hence one of the tallest people in the World. 

Last Edited By fanoffans (2018-12-10 16:31:00)