According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Americans are shrinking in height, a key indicator of declining health
The poor nutrition of white flour clearly plays a role in this decline.
For two centuries, Americans were the tallest people in the world.
But after World War II, our poor diets, poor health care system, and poor social safety nets have shrunk us.
Now Europeans and the Japanese tower above, even though our health care system costs twice as much.
In Europe and Japan, with universal health care and a generous social safety net, the average height of everyone continues to grow higher. But in the United States, the rich are much taller than the poor, on average.
References
Bilger, Burkhard, Apr 5, 2004. The Height Gap. Why Europeans are getting taller and taller-and Americans aren’t. The New Yorker.
J. Komlos, B. Lauderdale. Underperformance in Affluence: The Remarkable Relative Decline in U.S. Heights in the Second Half of the 20th Century. Social Science Quarterly. Volume 88, Issue 2, Pages 283-305
Rob Stein. Aug 13, 2007. America Loses Its Stature as Tallest Country. Washington Post.
May 22, 2007. Spiegel Online. Europeans Taller on Average Bad Health Care, Deficient Welfare Keep Americans Short.
