Who Stands Tallest?

The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.

QUESTION

Over the past 200 years, human height has steadily increased. This phenomenon can largely be explained by rising living standards and resulting improvements in health and nutrition. We wonder: Which country has the tallest average male height in the world?

ANSWER

A. United States B. Russia C. Italy D. Denmark

A. United States is not correct.

The average height for a male in the United States who was born in 1980 is 179 cm (70.5 inches). In contrast, a man born in the United States 100 years earlier, in 1880, was 169.5 cm (66.7 inches), according to research from the University of Tuebingen. That is a difference of 9.5 cm (3.7 inches), or 5.6 percent, in one hundred years. The biggest jump in recorded height in the United States was registered in the decade from 1930 to 1940. The height of a man born in the United States in 1930 was 173.4 cm (68.3 inches); whereas in 1940 it was 176.1 cm (69.3 inches) — an increase of 2.7 cm (1 inch).

B. Russia is not correct.

Men in Russia during the Soviet era grew even faster than men in the United States. The average height of men born in 1920, around the start of the USSR, was 167 cm (65.7 inches). The average height for Russian men born in 1970, just 50 years later, was 177 cm (69.7 inches) — an increase of 10 cm (3.9 inches) or 5.9 percent. (Height did not increase for those born in 1980.) In other words, the average height gained by American men over a century was surpassed by communist Russia in half the time. While genetics plays an important role in determining differences in height within a population, human height is also strongly influenced by the level and quality of nutrition during childhood as well as illnesses during the growth phase.

C. Italy is not correct.

Southern Europe, like Russia, also saw major 20th century shifts from developing agricultural nations to industrialized countries. The average height for a man born in Italy in 1980 is 174.5 cm (68.7 inches). Back in 1880, it was 163.9 cm (64.5 inches) — an increase of 6.5 percent. Spanish men born in 1880 had the same height as Italians and grew to a slightly taller average (175.6 cm or 69.1 inches) among those born in 1980. Meanwhile, Greek men born in 1880 were 167.3 cm (65.9 inches) and those born in 1980 are 177.3 cm (69.8 inches), tracking closely with Russian height trends in the same period.

D. Denmark is correct.

More than a millennium after Danish Viking raiders began conquering and exploring across Europe and the North Atlantic, Danish men still cut an imposing figure. In fact, they are even taller now than in the recent past. The average height for a man born in Denmark in 1980 is 183.2 cm (72.1 inches). One hundred years earlier, in 1880, the average height of a Danish man was 169.5 cm (66.7 inches). That was 8.1 percent higher, for an increase of 13.7 cm (5.3 inches) in height in 100 years. Danish men today are on average 4.2 cm (1.6 inches) taller than in the United States and 2.7 cm (1 inch) taller than in Germany.