Is it true that the height of people reflects their economic wellbeing? The taller the better off?

Question

It is argued that historically man has got taller due to improvement in economic might! Race is a relative issue here where the Far East races are shorter than the Western races but even then within their communities it is argued that the relatively taller ones are better off! What about the Sudanese and Tutsis of Africa who are generally not that well off? If one is short and strikes a diamond pit, would one get taller? The saying "stand tall among the rest" may have been borrowed from this belief?

Answer 1

I believe is true.
You can notice that a lot in countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy for example.
All of them used to have a lot shorter population 100 years ago, and since they have developed as 1st World countries, population has become taller.
Mostly because of the improved nutrition.

Answer 2

Height is a combination of the genetic makeup of both parents. Nourishment and nutrition plays a role (usually over several generations), yes, but economic well being does not necessarily mean a person "eats nutritiously". The current "tallest man in the world" comes from a very poor background. Standing tall does not mean height -- it means standing on your own with pride. A midget can stand tall.

Answer 3

There are many factors involved in the hight of a person.

Many people from England, the US and Australia have the same genetic makeup and share common ancestors. Financially Australians are not better of then their British or American counterparts, yet they are on an average considerably taller.

They do however eat better food then either the British or the Americans. More beef, more seafood, etc...

Answer 4

Most studies I have seen indicate that this is true for men but not for women. Women usually do better if they are relatively short slim and small boned. One study I saw, done in the us military indicated theat the great majority of generals were over six feet tall.

Answer 5

I don't think it's got anything to do with height.

Sir Richard Branson - 6' 2" (1.88 M)

Donald Trump - 6' 2" (1.88 M)

Bill Gates - 5' 10" (1.78 M)

Queen Elizabeth - Height: 5' 2" (1.57 M)

I think the bottom two is richer than the top two.

Answer 6

Your answers are in your questions itself. Its one of those myths. Have you heard of this saying were people day that being fat is a sign of prosperity! Do you think that's true? Economic well being doesn't come with your color, nationality, race or which country you are from. Its all hard work. Its as simple as that.

Answer 7

There's some truth in it. Suppose that you are rich, of course you can give your children the food with enough nutrient to help them grow without any malnutrition problem to cut the growth rate. But, as you can see,the tallest man that still alive in the world came from inner Mongolia -do you really think he is rich? I don't....Maybe it is a special case....

Answer 8

Improvement in economy translates to more money to spend on food. And hence the height grows. Also, life span increases dramatically as well.

Answer 9

no, height usually has to do w/ ages and ages in a particular climate/geographical region. we're just being elitist about tribal people. heck, Asian people are often short, and Japan is doing great economically! sometimes people come up w/ theories like this that are all based on racist views.

Answer 10

go visit Africa's plains and rivers, see the really tall starving people and then come back to talk about any prosperity-height ratio...