Europeans Are Growing Taller

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 194, 18 August 1936, Page 4

Europeans Are Growing Taller

CITY DWELLERS WINNING

Europeans are growing taller; city dwellers in general are bigger than country men, and people living in the north of Europe aro bigger than those in tho south. These are the conclusions reuchcd after a study of human growth ovor a number of years, details of whicn are given in tho “British Medical Journal. Children of to-day, according to the experience of many countries, compare favourably with children of the same age before the war, and it might be said that a tendency to increase of growth has long been observed. Figures for measurements of army recruits in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, and Italy over a period of years all show an increase in the average height, while measurements in German cities of school children show an increase in -weight as well as height. Even in Japan measurements on students record increases of growth, while in the United States thero has been a great increase in growth during tho last SO years. “In general, however,” it is said, “the bodily build of both sexes has tended to become slimmer, especially for women in the region of the hups, an observation also made in Germany.” This change is attributed primarily to environmental influences, including general improvements in hygiene, improvement in general diet, and tho result of sport and gymnasium. "It is noticeable,” goes on the report, “that tho inhabitants of cities in general arc bigger than country- men. Those of the north are bigger than those of tho south. Hence one can hardly attribute tho change to the effect of sunlight, which some have occasionally regarded as the primary factor of growth."