Wapo - Why are Americans getting shorter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not it, OP. Whites of Scandinavian descent are tall. Hispanic whites are short.

Changing heights are due to changing demographics.

Hello, perhaps you missed this in OP's post:

Around 1980, even native-born White men and women started getting shorter. (We’re looking specifically at Whites because they have the most robust data.)

The definition of "white" in this country has always been a moving target.

Do tell. Because I don't really think so.

How much reading do you want to do?

https://andscape.com/features/white-immigrants-werent-always-considered-white-and-acceptable/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_whiteness_in_the_United_States

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/12/opinion/columbus-day-italian-american-racism.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree it's obviously due to changing demographics. People from difference backgrounds are different heights.

Read the article! They addressed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG of all the things Millennials complain about, now they're complaining that they're too short.

+1

"America’s unluckiest generation"

GMAFB

[Anonymous]

Kids are heavier and going through puberty earlier- that seems very obvious, and generally earlier puberty = shorter height. Yes, there are always exceptions. This isn’t anything new, other than there are a LOT more kids like this now than before. I’m shocked by how early kids are developing these days, and by how much heavier they are- not necessarily overweight, but just thicker/broader/heavier in general. The authors make an interesting point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not it, OP. Whites of Scandinavian descent are tall. Hispanic whites are short.

Changing heights are due to changing demographics.

This.

/thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not it, OP. Whites of Scandinavian descent are tall. Hispanic whites are short.

Changing heights are due to changing demographics.

This.

/thread

DCUM’s reading comprehension level is astonishing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not it, OP. Whites of Scandinavian descent are tall. Hispanic whites are short.

Changing heights are due to changing demographics.

This.

/thread

DCUM’s reading comprehension level is astonishing.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are heavier and going through puberty earlier- that seems very obvious, and generally earlier puberty = shorter height. Yes, there are always exceptions. This isn’t anything new, other than there are a LOT more kids like this now than before. I’m shocked by how early kids are developing these days, and by how much heavier they are- not necessarily overweight, but just thicker/broader/heavier in general. The authors make an interesting point.

Thirty, forty years ago, about 5% of children were underweight and 5% of children were overweight. Now, 1-2% of children are underweight and 10-20% of children are overweight or obese.

Yes, children and teens are all thicker than they used to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not it, OP. Whites of Scandinavian descent are tall. Hispanic whites are short.

Changing heights are due to changing demographics.

Hello, perhaps you missed this in OP's post:

Around 1980, even native-born White men and women started getting shorter. (We’re looking specifically at Whites because they have the most robust data.)

The definition of "white" in this country has always been a moving target.

So wapo now defines Central americans and Asians as white?

Some of them are.

Grasping at any logic to blame POC

Lots of people from Central and South America are Caucasian.

White South Americans loathe to come to the us as immigrants

White Central Americans are rare and while they aren’t as reticent to come to the us as South Americans, the numbers are minuscule

Absurd! None of the ones I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids eat a much more varied and nutritious diet than I did as a kid and they're both forecast to be shorter than us. We don't have any obesity in the family and are all fit.

DH and I are both 5'8" tall. Our girls are expected to be 5'2" and 5'6", so noticeably shorter than both of us. We attribute it to genetics given other shorter female family members. It shouldn't be diet, as we eat a pretty darn clean and healthy diet by any standard.

Your DH is short, actually really short, you however are tall, if you are the tallest female in your family then you are an outlier. A genetic fluke.

This weird poster makes no sense.

Not really, I get it. Tall mom canceled out by short dad. So the kids ended up somewhere in the middle. If dad was 6'3" and the girls ended up those heights it would be unusual.

The daughter at 5'6" isn't surprising, but the one at 5'2" seems unusual for those parents. That's short, not in the middle.

It's an expectation at this point, she may very well end up taller. But the back of the envelope estimate provided by a PP above says that they would both end up somewhere between the parents, but not taller.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with being shorter? Why is it some inequity Millennials are forced to endure? I'm short, the tall people I know seem to have a lot more health issues. Bad joints, bad backs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are heavier and going through puberty earlier- that seems very obvious, and generally earlier puberty = shorter height. Yes, there are always exceptions. This isn’t anything new, other than there are a LOT more kids like this now than before. I’m shocked by how early kids are developing these days, and by how much heavier they are- not necessarily overweight, but just thicker/broader/heavier in general. The authors make an interesting point.

Thirty, forty years ago, about 5% of children were underweight and 5% of children were overweight. Now, 1-2% of children are underweight and 10-20% of children are overweight or obese.

Yes, children and teens are all thicker than they used to be.

I remember driving through Kansas on a cross country tour about 30yrs ago. We stopped at a diner for lunch and I couldn’t get over how huge all of the men were. Tall, white and hulking. Not fat just really large.

Cornfed and bred big Kansans was at that time really a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree it's obviously due to changing demographics. People from difference backgrounds are different heights.

Read the article! They addressed it.

I'm still skeptical. We've had massive demographic changes in the US since 1980 and plenty of white people are white Latinos or have some mixed race heritage but still look very white. Very hard to separate the demographic changes from everything else.

I suspect there's fiddling with data or ignoring unwanted data to make the narrative fit. WaPo does this all the time.

[Anonymous]

My DS towers over both of us. He sleeps 10+ hours a night, sometimes more. In early elementary he slept about 12 hours a night and was late to give up naps.

He’s been a solid sleeper since early infancy.

I think so many young people are sleep deprived, screens, activities, studying etc., so they aren’t getting enough sleep and because they are spending so much time indoors they aren’t getting enough exercise. Little sleep and little exercise in childhood makes for smaller adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids eat a much more varied and nutritious diet than I did as a kid and they're both forecast to be shorter than us. We don't have any obesity in the family and are all fit.

DH and I are both 5'8" tall. Our girls are expected to be 5'2" and 5'6", so noticeably shorter than both of us. We attribute it to genetics given other shorter female family members. It shouldn't be diet, as we eat a pretty darn clean and healthy diet by any standard.

Your DH is short, actually really short, you however are tall, if you are the tallest female in your family then you are an outlier. A genetic fluke.

5’8” is not that short. Average male height is 5’9”. You’re just judgy.