The average height of Dutch people is lower than that of previous generations. Is it due to genetics? Migration? Nutrition? Let’s find out.
We’ve seen in a previous article that the Dutch had the highest average height in the world. We also looked in great detail at the three variables that impact average height: genetics, nutrition, and access to healthcare. Today, let’s explore why the Dutch are no longer “growing.” They remain the tallest in the teenager category, however, as we saw in a recent article as well.
A 2017 study from the prestigious University of Oxford demonstrated that the average height of populations in England increased after the Norman Conquest. It also explained that English heights subsequently fluctuated depending on grain and flour shortages, policies for assisting the poor, and changes in occupations and working conditions.
As presented in the articles mentioned above, we’ve seen that the evolution of average height varies by region. South Korean women gained nearly 8 inches over 100 years. Other countries, like the United States, have hit a plateau.
Today, experts from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), a Dutch government institution, have shown that Dutch women born in 2001 are on average just over half an inch shorter than those born in 1980, while for men the drop is about 0.4 inches. So what’s going on?
Professor Majid Ezzati, who holds the chair of global environmental health at Imperial College London, said it would take a few more years to confirm whether the Dutch are truly seeing a downward trend. But he added: “If this trend is real, it is almost certainly a matter of nutrition.”
Ezzati noted that the Dutch school milk distribution program has been considered one of the reasons the population grew as tall as it did over recent decades. But changes in nutrition can cut both ways. Indeed, self-serve food at school has seen considerable growth in recent years. According to Ezzati, Dutch data doesn’t make it clear whether poor diet is limited to certain demographic groups due to lack of access to healthier alternatives, or whether the shift affects the population as a whole and reflects new food trends and social habits.
Although CBS suggested that migration plays a role in the latest Dutch data, Ezzati said it was unlikely to be a key factor given the scale of migration into the Netherlands and the size of the height change.
Genetics are also an unlikely explanation. Ezzati pointed out that genetics are an important factor in determining an individual’s height – tall parents, for instance, tend to have tall children – but current data suggests that height-related genes are not confined to particular populations. Moreover, evolutionary changes would require timescales far greater than a few decades to have any effect.
Ezzati said it was crucial to address inequalities so that all children can reach their full growth potential. His team’s work found that while boys and girls in the United Kingdom have grown taller over recent decades, the rate of increase was not as high as for children in many other wealthy countries, a factor they attribute to insufficient access to nutritious food for those who cannot afford it.
Ezzati suggested that the maximum average human height would likely not be reached until the entire population has access to good nutrition, possibly over several generations.
As in England’s past, the impact of the economy appears to have a direct correlation with average population height through the quality of food offered to growing children. However, access to abundance seems to come with a downside: a poor nutritional balance, particularly at school. These factors are unfortunately leading to a decline in the future heights of today’s children. Useful information for every parent to know!
Source: Why does the world’s tallest populace seem to be getting shorter?