Has anyone remarked on this article? [Mark Plus]


http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040405fa_fact

THE HEIGHT GAP
by BURKHARD BILGER
Why Europeans are getting taller and taller—and Americans aren’t.
Issue of 2004-04-05
Posted 2004-03-29

.....

Over the past thirty years, a new breed of “anthropometric historians” has
tracked how populations around the world have changed in stature. Height,
they’ve concluded, is a kind of biological shorthand: a composite code for
all the factors that make up a society’s well-being. Height variations
within a population are largely genetic, but height variations between
populations are mostly environmental, anthropometric history suggests. If
Joe is taller than Jack, it’s probably because his parents are taller. But
if the average Norwegian is taller than the average Nigerian it’s because
Norwegians live healthier lives. That’s why the United Nations now uses
height to monitor nutrition in developing countries. In our height lies the
tale of our birth and upbringing, of our social class, daily diet, and
health-care coverage. In our height lies our history.

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