Is this generation taller than us?

[kozmic]

I'm like 5'-10 1/2" and most of my high school and college mates were mostly in that 5'-8" to 6'-0" range. Most of the girls I hung around with were mostly 5'-4" to about 5'-6". Even our current friends and associates fit that matrix.

My boys are both 6'-2" most of their buddies and teammates are 6 footers plus. Their female classmates are mostly 5'-4" to 5'-9". Their girl friends 5'-8" and 5'-9". Most of my kid's friends tower over their parents.

Even those boys with shorter parents who you thought would be runts forever have sprouted up to be as tall or taller than me. And the same with girls, all seem way taller than my wife at 5'-4" now.

We'll have to save the fact that these kids are also built better than we were (both the boys and the girls) for another time (maybe even a different forum)!

So is it just the water in these parts or has this current generation of kids "evolved" to have us by an inch or two?

 

[Marshwheeling]

They are mostly taller than I am. Except my son; he's 5'3". (Ever watch a five-foot three bar bouncer do his thing? It's interesting.)
I am 5'7" last time I checked. Funny, I always thought I was 5'8". But yeah, I think today's kids are taller, and heavier, even the ones who aren't obese. They generally get better nutrition right from the cradle, and a lot of them live in the weight room.

 

[sophie]

I don't think I rightly know.

 

[rimfired]

I was able to fit into my Grandfathers Dress Army uniform in sixth grade.

As a genus in America we've gotten taller.

My concern is I see a preponderance of obesiety everyday.

To the point, yes, kids seem taller. Cause, growth hormone in our food sources? Something to think about.

 

[LVSteve]

To the point, yes, kids seem taller. Cause, growth hormone in our food sources? Something to think about.

This

Supposedly the Dutch are the tallest race on Earth, probably down to the ever present threat of flooding.

 

[Biginge]

I have been trying to find long sleeve shirts that don't look like 3/4 length sleeves for 60 years. If their gettin taller, they ain't catering to us in the clothing business yet. Or the airline seats.

 

[mkk41]

Every generation gets better fed and works less. I was bigger than my Pop when I graduated HS. He was about 5'8" and went about 165. I was 5'11" and 190

I've often noticed whenever I see uniforms or helmets from the Civil War , or even WWI , they seem awful small.

Seen real British armor and those people must'va been munchkins!

 

[Tall Pine]

I think yes. Im over 6'7" and height is always being discussed. Before she passed my Grandma told me she thought generations are getting taller. Said in her younger days (1930s) anyone over 6 ft was considered pretty tall. I am over 6'7" and am 2" over my Dad. Not sure the reason but I think it is happening.

 

[RonJ]

I have read that the Sudanese are a tall people. I can't believe that nutrition played much part in that. What else other than genetics?

 

[walkin jack]

Well I may be the wrong one to respond to this'n. I'm 5'5". I was average or bigger all through elementary school. The summer between my last year of elementary school (6th grade) and first year of Jr. High School (7th grade) all the kids in my age group grew and I stayed as I was.

I couldn't help but notice on the first day of school that year (1956) That I was looking at belt buckles. My dad was 5'9" my mom was 5'2" I have a brother that's 6'2".

But to answer the question as best I can, I believe that people continue to get a little bit taller, in general, with every generation. I think this is due to improvement in nutrition and medical care and awareness of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

Still, every generation will have some short, some tall, some fat, some skinny.....and a few perfect specimens to mess up the statistics.

 

[deralte]

6'4" and the wife is 5"8" but we were born in 1933 and 1942. Understand that during the period we were gaining in height but it has stopped and people born in the past 10 years are slightly shorter.

 

[Tall Pine]

I think its the tall gene in everyone constantly getting amplified to some extent from one generation to the next. More so in some than others. I really dont think nutrition is the main cause. I thinks its natural evolution or something.

 

[rog8732]

I think this little tid-bit will tie in nicely with your thread..... All male offspring born healthy, and remaining so, will grow to be taller than their birth mother.....Not my study,..Johns-Hopkins I believe.
Study conducted in the 1960s, when the average height of American males had just moved up to 5' 8 1/2" or there-a-bouts. I think you are correct that we are seeing taller kids than in the past.
. Funny story about my childhood and my beloved step-father. He was 5'5" and at about age 13 I was already a reed thin 6'....In his line of public work (DMV) he was often asked if I was his son, to which he always replied yes and introduced me...More often than not the following comment was " he looks just like you."... Pop would always smile and look up at me towering over him and say "yeah, we do look a lot alike."

 

[shouldazagged]

It's been the trend for many generations, long before the prevalence of hormones in the American diet. Look at statistics for the average height of a soldier in the Civil War.

Kids who played basketball for my high school (some of you may remember Charlie Tyra, who played in the pivot in college and the NBA) who were six seven were considered giants. On many college teams today they'd be playing guard or small forward.

Look at the increase in size, and terrifying agility and quickness, of college and pro football linemen over the last thirty years or so. How many MLB pitchers are now over six five?

It's by no means only the athletes, either.

 

[finesse_r]

To answer your question, NO. Evolution does not work that quickly, and on a personal note my father was an inch taller than me and two and a half inches taller than my brother. I would seriously doubt there is any change in that direction.

In fact with the influx of Hispanic immigrants, I would think the average height of Americans is getting shorter not taller.

 

[therevjay]

When I joined the Army in 1960 I was 5'8" Now I'm 5'7". Thinking positive don't work!

To add insult my wife has shrunk a little too, but she's still 1 1/2" taller then me.

 

[gfy1960]

I'm 6' my wife is 5'6". my sons are 6'2" and 6'4", my 15 yr old daughter is 5'11". I'd say yes.

 

[snubbyfan]

Well, my Dad was 6'2" and was raised during the great depression. His family was dirt poor and just managed to not starve to death.
I'm 5'8" and was raised on a proper nutritious diet. During most of his life my Dad weighed around 180 pounds and I'm 200 pounds but it's all muscle(yeah right).
From my personal experience, I don't think the nutrition thing pans out.
How's this for a crazy theory, cell phone radiation stimulating the release of growth hormones by the pituitary gland in the brain. It'd explain both the height and athleticism in our young people.

 

[chief38]

In raw height............ MAYBE

In scruples................ NO WAY!

 

[oak1971]

They get taller and we start shrinking. That's fine, it'll happen to them too.