How the Scandinavians got so tall
“For most of the
history of the United States, Americans were the tallest people in the world.
Recently, though, northern Europeans became the world's tallest people. The
Scandinavians have a reputation for stature, but it turns out it is the Dutch
who are the tallest -- eight inches taller, on average, than they were two
centuries ago.
Hacker and Pierson
argue the shift occurred because, these days, active government has made
Europeans healthier than we are. In particular, according to the authors, they
have healthier childhoods, because their governments offer more material help
to pregnant women and infants than does the U.S. government.”