Health care is reason Americans now lag, researcher believes

August 15, 2007
Health care is reason Americans now lag, researcher believes

Pundits often opine that America's stature is declining on the global stage. It turns out that Americans - literally - are not standing as tall, compared with the rest of the world, as they used to.

U.S. adults lost their position as the tallest people on Earth to the Dutch, who average about 2 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.