Europeans used to look up to us; now, many of them look down on us instead.
No, I’m not talking metaphorically about our loss of moral authority in the wake of Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. I’m literally talking about feet and inches.
This is not a trivial matter.
“height is indicative of how well the human organism thrives in its socioeconomic environment.”
So what is America’s modern height lag telling us?
We seem to be left with two main possible explanations of the height gap.
One is that America really has turned into “Fast Food Nation.”
“U.S. children,” write Mr. Komlos and Mr. Lauderdale, “consume more meals prepared outside the home, more fast food rich in fat, high in energy density and low in essential micronutrients, than do European children.”
A broader explanation would be that contemporary America is a society that, in a variety of ways, doesn’t take very good care of its children.
clipped from: select.nytimes.com