Looking up to the Dutch Netherlands now has tallest people
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Most of us are taller than our parents, who probably are taller than their parents. But in the Netherlands, the generational progression has reached new heights.
In the past 150 years, the Dutch have become the tallest people on Earth - and experts say they're still getting bigger. It is a tale of a nation's health and wealth.
Prosperity propelled the collective growth spurt that began in the mid-1800s and was only interrupted during the harsh years of the Nazi occupation in the 1940s - when average heights actually declined.
With their protein-rich diet and a national health service that pampers infants, the Dutch are standing taller than ever. The average Dutchman stands just over 6 feet, while women average nearly 5-foot-7.
Ask Pieter Gijselaar about the problems of the very tall.
At more than 6-feet, 10 1/2 inches, he spends a lot of time ducking through doorways and guarding against minor head injuries.
In an economy-class airline seat, he only fits in the emergency exit row. He had to have the seat of his Volkswagen Golf specially fitted and blocks put under the legs to raise his office desk.
Many Dutch are much taller than average.
So many, in fact, that four years ago the government adjusted building codes to raise the standards for door frames and ceilings. Doors must be 7-feet to 6 1/2 high.
In 1848, one man out of four was rejected by the Dutch military because he was shorter than 5-foot-2. Today, fewer than one in 1,000 is that short.
George Maat, an anthropologist at Leiden University Medical Center, cites a study done in 1861 correlating the height of conscripts to the availability and price of rye, then the main food crop.
One year after a poor crop, the number of men rejected as too short shot up.
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