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I met Margaret Thatcher, she was not much over 5′ plus a couple of inches. I am 6′1″ 215 lbs, and she towered over me and all of the other men in the room.

Okay, Mitt. We get it. You “met” Maggie Thatcher in the figurative sense…

Here’s a thought experiment for you, kaltes. Two Asian immigrants come to America and have children. Their children are 6-8 inches taller then they are. It’s quite common. Now why do you think that might be?

Spirit of 1776 on December 20, 2007 at 9:34 PM

Fluoridation? Wheaties? I don’t know, why?

Here’s a thought experiment for you, kaltes. Two Asian immigrants come to America and have children. Their children are 6-8 inches taller then they are. It’s quite common. Now why do you think that might be?

Spirit of 1776 on December 20, 2007 at 9:34 PM

Oooo Oooo! I know! She cheated on him with an American….

Here’s a thought experiment for you, kaltes. Two Asian immigrants come to America and have children. Their children are 6-8 inches taller then they are. It’s quite common. Now why do you think that might be?

Spirit of 1776 on December 20, 2007 at 9:34 PM

How tall is the mailman?

It’s required viewing for every self-pitying American beta male in need of a stiff shot of perspective.

That would be me, but I’m still tempted. Weird, huh? I’ve got a hot wife, a decent job, and the love and respect of hundreds of Hot Air commenters, and I’m taller than all four Hobbits from LOTR; but…

It helps to think of myself as Tom Cruise-sized, but much less gay.

When I visited Japan, the generation that was my age or younger were =huge= compared to their baby boomer parents, in all senses. It’s because they’re not eating the fish-and-rice diet as much as the Big Mac-and-milk diet. Fish is good for you, natch, but it does miss out on some micro- and macro-nutrients you get from dairy and beef.

I think for most groups throughout the world, the U.S. has lost the boost to height (though not weight) once your family moves here, simply because the American diet has moved to almost all over the world, and due to the Green Revolution (the real one, which boosted crop yields, as opposed to the ersatz let’s-subsidize-ethanol-from-corn-and-make-food-more-expensive). Food has never been so cheap from a historical perspective.

There are tall asians in asia too. Just because asians are shorter on average does not mean they are ALL short, some of them are tall. Also, different asian ethnicities are not uniformally short. Vietnamese are particularly short, while South Koreans are probably the tallest on average in asia (but still shorter than other races). North Koreans are shorter because they have faced extreme malnutrition and famine, but these extremes are not typical throughout asia.

The Japanese are significantly shorter than other races, even though have have been a developed, modern country for some time now. So saying it is all a matter of nutrition and wealth just isn’t right.

The elephant in the room, and the most straightforward answer: Genetics.

As for thought experiments, try this on for size: Who is taller on average, whites or blacks in America?

Just about everyone would say, why, blacks of course! And just about everyone would be wrong! Whites are actually taller on average. Want the proof? Here you go:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/08/13/GR2007081300036.html

The San Francisco bay area is loaded with 6-foot and taller Chinese and Koreans who grew up here.

40 million gender imbalance

Because they have murdered 40 million more unborn girls than boys.

Oh and by the way, short of extreme malnutrition, people do not have their growth stunted. The whole “asians are short because of poverty and malnutrition” is nonsense, because you don’t see all those poor african countries full of midgets, now do you?

kaltes on December 20, 2007 at 9:30 PM

Actually yes you do. But then you can see almost anything on the African continent.
Peoples from 41/2 feet to 61/2 Negroid to Caucasoid and the mix .
In fact if a forensic scientist found Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s bones he would say she was Caucasian.

The people of Africa are more diverse than the people of Europe.

U.S. adults lost their position as the tallest people on Earth to the Dutch, who average about two inches taller than the typical American. In fact, American men now rank ninth and women 15th in average height, having fallen short of many other European nations.

Um, beef and beef by-products.

Many parts of China historically suffer from low IQ from the lack of thiamin.

ethnic Asians and Hispanics, who are principally immigrants or first-generation Americans, are not as tall as the native-born ethnic African and Anglo populations.