The Incredible Shrinking American
I heard something about his on the radio recently, and thought I’d take a look around the web for more info. It appears to be true. We Americans are shrinking!
According to CBS News:
From the days of the founding fathers right on through the industrial revolution and two world wars, Americans literally towered over other nations. In a land of boundless open spaces and limitless natural abundance, the young nation transformed its increasing wealth into human growth.
But just as it has in so many other arenas, America’s predominance in height has faded. Americans reached a height plateau after World War II, gradually falling behind the rest of the world as it continued growing taller.
By the time the baby boomers reached adulthood in the 1960s, most northern and western European countries had caught up with and surpassed the United States. Young adults in Japan and other prosperous Asian countries now stand nearly as tall as Americans do.
Even residents of the formerly communist East Germany are taller than Americans today.
Is it my self-professed paranoia, or are Japan and Germany rising up against us again? Perhaps they’re planning on joining forces with China and North Korea, not to mention Russia, in a Pan-Asian Eastern Bloc takeover of our shrinking widening populace?
It’s high time to start eating right
exercising and spending more quality time on the rack!
More interesting tidbits can be found here:
Why Americans Are Getting Shorter
The Dutch the World’s Tallest People
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