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SHORTER THAN IRAQ. I'm a towering 5'7", so perhaps I should be gleeful about news that America, as a whole, is shrinking. But the statistical side of me knows that the fact that America is no longer the tallest country is an indirect, if partial indicator that our collective health is declining.
[J]ust 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.This list I found online shows America already dropping to 27th in average adult male height by 2006, behind most of Europe and -- get this -- Iraq, which ranks 21st! Of course, with all the discussion of how immigration is adversely affecting the country, I wonder if the new study accounts for the decline in average height attributable to the arrival of millions of Mexicans and other Latin Americans who, on average, are shorter. No Latin American country ranks higher than 37th (Uruguay), and Mexico is 51st. (I once recall playing a pickup basketball game in Peru, ranked 39th, where I was basically a power forward. As Borat would say: “Niiiiiice.”)In any case, I’m trying to eat well and, as a non-smoker, look forward to a long life as my 5’7” frame steadily moves move me into the upper brackets (at least height-wise) by, say, 2040. Here’s hoping I don’t go hunchbacked from leaning over this laptop before I become -- finally! -- a giant in my native land.--Tom Schaller
