Over the last few decades, humans have grown (height-wise) taller than earlier times significantly. The average human height over time has increased by 3 to 7 inches than what it used to be in the late 19s. So, how have humans grown taller over time?
What is the reason?
There is a solid reason for this! The whole research comes down to nutrition and the human body’s ability to fully benefit itself from those nutrients. The skeletons of human bodies over history have shown that there has been a significant difference in average human height. In the US, in 1850, the height of the average human was about 5 ft 7 inches or 170 cm. Things began to change after the 2nd World War. It is believed that during the 2nd World War, people had access to resource-rich environments and a wide variety of nutrition sources. Let’s take an example of the Netherlands, the average height of a male was approximately 5 ft 5 inches during the time of world war, and today, the tallest people on the earth are found in the Netherlands.
Most people believe that the great strides in height made by Western Europeans over Americans are all because of their social policies and health awareness. These include factors such as higher parental leaves that allow parents for better practicality of things like breastfeeding, less working hours providing extra hours for preparing nutritious meals rather than just relying upon fast-food.
So how taller will humans grow with perfect nutrition? It is believed that Dutch and Americans are close to their average height potentials. This is a good thing as the human body is not by any means meant to grow to extreme heights. Extremely tall humans suffer from various pains and disabilities related to their abnormal height. So, we hope you have got your answer to the question – why the average human height over time has grown?