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LACK OF NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE MAY EXPLAIN WHY EUROPEANS ARE TALLER
THAN AMERICANS
SPIEGEL, GERMANY - For years, researchers have been wondering why
Americans stopped growing. US citizens were among the tallest in the
world up until World War II. But since then, heights have stagnated
while Europeans have been getting taller and taller, with the average
American now between two and six centimeters shorter. The correlation
between wealth and height has long been understood, the most recent
example coming as Eastern Europeans shot up following the collapse of
communism. But why, in the richest country in the world, should growth
rates be stagnating?
A new study published in the current issue of the Social Science
Quarterly by researchers from Princeton University in the US and the
University of Munich in Germany indicates that the difference may have
to do more with politics than biology. Specifically, the study, which
involved the statistical analysis of demographic and health data
collected between 1959 and 2002, concludes that the spotty US
health-care system and weak welfare net could explain why Americans have
stopped growing.
"We surmise that the health systems and high degree of social security
in Europe provide better conditions for growth than the American health
system, despite the fact that the system costs twice as much," said
study co-author John Komlos from the University of Munich in a
statement. "There are also indications that American diets are deficient
in several areas."
From the Colonial times until roughly the 1970s, Americans were the
tallest people in the world. But then, growth stagnated while Europeans
spent the second half of the 20th century growing like weeds. Now, the
average Dutchman is six centimeters taller than the average American --
"almost an exact reversal of the relationship in the middle of the 19th
century," Komlos says.
Researchers have established in recent years that wealthier families
tend to provide better nutrition for their children and, as a result,
they tend to grow taller. The drastic differences in the United States
between rich and poor, the researchers pointed out, mean that the US
average is pulled down by those who struggle to get by. Whereas in the
US, some 15 percent of the population has no health insurance and those
on welfare can barely get by, almost all citizens of northern and
western European countries enjoy universal health care and a generous
social net. The result is that even those children dependent on welfare
in Europe have a sufficient living standard, the researchers concluded.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,484168,00.html
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LACK OF NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE MAY EXPLAIN WHY EUROPEANS ARE TALLER
THAN AMERICANS
SPIEGEL, GERMANY - For years, researchers have been wondering why
Americans stopped growing. US citizens were among the tallest in the
world up until World War II. But since then, heights have stagnated
while Europeans have been getting taller and taller, with the average
American now between two and six centimeters shorter. The correlation
between wealth and height has long been understood, the most recent
example coming as Eastern Europeans shot up following the collapse of
communism. But why, in the richest country in the world, should growth
rates be stagnating?
A new study published in the current issue of the Social Science
Quarterly by researchers from Princeton University in the US and the
University of Munich in Germany indicates that the difference may have
to do more with politics than biology. Specifically, the study, which
involved the statistical analysis of demographic and health data
collected between 1959 and 2002, concludes that the spotty US
health-care system and weak welfare net could explain why Americans have
stopped growing.
"We surmise that the health systems and high degree of social security
in Europe provide better conditions for growth than the American health
system, despite the fact that the system costs twice as much," said
study co-author John Komlos from the University of Munich in a
statement. "There are also indications that American diets are deficient
in several areas."
From the Colonial times until roughly the 1970s, Americans were the
tallest people in the world. But then, growth stagnated while Europeans
spent the second half of the 20th century growing like weeds. Now, the
average Dutchman is six centimeters taller than the average American --
"almost an exact reversal of the relationship in the middle of the 19th
century," Komlos says.
Researchers have established in recent years that wealthier families
tend to provide better nutrition for their children and, as a result,
they tend to grow taller. The drastic differences in the United States
between rich and poor, the researchers pointed out, mean that the US
average is pulled down by those who struggle to get by. Whereas in the
US, some 15 percent of the population has no health insurance and those
on welfare can barely get by, almost all citizens of northern and
western European countries enjoy universal health care and a generous
social net. The result is that even those children dependent on welfare
in Europe have a sufficient living standard, the researchers concluded.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,484168,00.html
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