Sydney Oland
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Nutrition, obesity and height

5/14/2009

6 Comments

 

For those of you who don't know me outside of the interweb, I'm tall.  Above average for sure.  In my teen years I briefly had the nickname "Freaky Tall".  Although I have tall on both sides of my family it seems that a lot of my peers are also taller then their parents, and many are taller than their grandparents (even taking pre-old age shrinkage into account). 

Last year I read a paper which pointed out how the current generation of young people in Asia are much taller then the generation that proceeded them.  This article makes the argument that the generation that is taller was brought up with better nutrition than their parents.  As these countries became more industrialized their citizens got more access to and more rounded diet, and the extra calories and nutrients they received in their peak growing years made them taller then the generation before them. 

Nature is a key part of this; more nutrients = more growth.   But what about nurture (nature's counterpart in the procreation process).  The want to give your children better then you had as a child is one of the ways in which you nurture that child.  What better is to the individual is defined by the culture that person associates with.    An example of this is  people who choose to feed their children a vegetarian or vegan diet, their decision is one that they've arrived at because of their culture (religious in some parts of the world,  perceived health reasons in another and for ethical reason in others).   It is their culture that is informing their choices, not nature.  North America's childhood obesity rates, are part of these changes as well.  Parents are not deliberately hurting their children by overfeeding they are trying to make their children happy.   It's just that the foods that their children want are deviously unhealthy (although that could just be my naive opinion not being a parent myself.) These changes in people's physical appearance have to do with what they eat and these changes are drastic because the changes in how we eat are drastic.

With changes in agriculture and food cultures happening so rapidly we are seeing the affects the youngest generations more immediately, not spread out over many generations.  In the case of people being taller then their parents it's a neutral thing, but when it comes to childhood diabetes and obesity rising at such an alarming rate it becomes a negative thing.

The core that unites all of these issues is parents wanting to give their children something better.  More nutritious food is better, more food is better, an alternative diet is better.  What we are beginning to see is the long term effect of better.

6 Comments
Jules
5/19/2009 01:46:54 pm

I would still consider you tall, maybe not freaky tall but for sure one damn tall lady.

I have read some articles that suggests Americans on average have stopped gaining height (like Europeans and Asians are on average). Possibly because of unequal access to health care/preventative quality of life aspects.

Reply
Sydney
5/19/2009 11:46:18 pm



Do you mean that everyone has stopped gaining height? (Americans, Asians, Europeans) and how does health care get itself in the mix?

Please tell me more, very interesting :)

Reply
Jules
5/22/2009 12:32:27 am

No, I do not mean everyone on average has stopped gaining height. But that Asians and Europeans on average are getting taller (increasing average heights). However, on average Americans are not following this trend of getting taller. Americans were once touted as being some of the tallest in the world prior to World War II.

Then again, means (averages) can be misleading since they can be skewed by outliers (uncommon results i.e. really large or small data entries).

It is interesting to note, on average Canadians have a longer life expectancy than Americans. This might result in arguments about whose health care system is "better". It really seems to boil down to equal access to health care. Of course, this does not preclude unfairness in the Canadian system but the Canadian system overall is seen as more accessible no matter socioeconomic status. Or so I understand. :)

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Sydney
5/22/2009 02:13:18 am

I can't really speak to American health care, unless you count hand wounds :)

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Acupuncture Integrative Natural Care link
10/8/2012 07:22:15 pm

I truly enjoy your website and the breath of information is impressive and very informative. More power!

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EPHEDRINE link
10/14/2013 06:18:24 pm

Although I hold high on both flanks of my generation it appears that a multiple of my barons are similarly taller next their forebears, further numerous are taller than their grandparents.

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