In the past, their height reached close to two meters

The new generation of Dutch is shrinking in height

The heights of the Dutch are constantly decreasing.

EPA

Over the past six decades, lowlanders have been the tallest in the world, with the latest data showing that the average height of a 19-year-old Dutchman was just over six feet (182.9 cm), while Women born in the same year are five feet six inches (169.3 cm) tall.

However, government statisticians have found that the heights of the Dutch are declining.

Based on surveys of 719,000 people aged between 19 and 60, the Office for National Statistics confirmed that after a period of marked decline in Dutch heights, Dutch men born in 2001 became on average 1 cm shorter than the Dutch-born generation in 1980, Dutch women became 1.4 cm shorter.

Government statisticians explained that the downturn is "due in part to the increased immigration of new, shorter populations, and the children born of these new populations in the Netherlands."

However, an astonishing discovery confirmed that the growth in height also stopped in the generations in which both parents were born in the Netherlands, and the height increase also stopped in the generations in which the four grandparents were born in the Netherlands.

Also, men without an immigrant background did not increase in height, and women without an immigrant background showed a declining trend in height.

Scientists were quick to offer possible explanations, and even cures, to the country's height crisis. While the theories at this point were just guesswork, Gert Stolp, a professor at the University of Groningen's School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, says he's trying to see if the economic crash in 2007 might have had an effect. “Maybe there were things like the financial crisis that meant some kids grew up worse than previous cohorts, or maybe inequality has risen: We know that inequality affects average height, and poorer childhood conditions lead to lower growth in children,” he said. vertical direction. He also said that there is a similar trend in the United States that the increased consumption associated with unhealthy fast food could be a factor.

“Perhaps the diets have changed," says Stolp.

Perhaps the diets of recent years contain fewer nutrients important for growth.”

It is believed that this is the reason for the shrinkage of the height of Americans.

The reason is poor diets, more calories, and fewer nutrients.

More speculatively, the decrease in height could be due to more people not eating animal products in their diets, "but again, there's no evidence for that."

Stolp did not rule out switching to healthier food to help the Dutch maintain their lead and grow again.

"There will of course be physiological limits, as people will not really grow taller to an average height of three metres," he said.

It will take a few more years to confirm whether the Dutch are indeed seeing a downward trend in their heights, said Professor Majid Ezzati, head of global environmental health at Imperial College London, but added: “If this Dutch trend in length is real, it is almost certain that The reasons are nutritional.

However, this data serves as a sober reminder to the Dutch that nothing stays the same forever.

More than a century ago, the tallest people were the people of North America and Northern Europe, and Sweden and Norway proudly topped the list above all peoples.

In the first half of the twentieth century the Netherlands enjoyed an amazing growth spurt, with its citizens reaching heights in the 1950s.

Dutch men born in 2001 are on average 1 cm shorter than the generation born in the Netherlands in 1980, and Dutch women are 1.4 cm shorter.

Growth in height also stopped in the generations in which both parents were born in the Netherlands

Based on surveys of 719,000 people between the ages of 19 and 60, the Office for National Statistics has confirmed that after a period of marked decline in Dutch heights, Dutch men born in 2001 are on average 1 cm shorter than the Dutch-born generation in 1980, Dutch women became 1.4 cm shorter.

Government statisticians explained that the downturn was "partly due to increased immigration of new, shorter populations, and children born of these new populations in the Netherlands."

A similar trend in the United States suggests that increased consumption associated with unhealthy fast food could be a factor.

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