George Washington’s Height Was Average, Americans Have Shrunk Dramatically Since 1776?
Fuji TV news aired a segment today on a new government report that revealed the average leg length of male Japanese students has decreased since the 1970’s.
Experts aren’t exactly sure why boys seem to be getting shorter, or why girls’ legs have shown a slight increase in length over the same time period. Some believe that the diet of today’s children is a major factor in the decrease, but since there have been a variety of changes in Japan’s diet since the 1970’s, it’s hard to blame any one food for the change.
At the conclusion of the segment, one of Fuji TV’s reporters pointed out that Japan was not the only developed country that has seen its average height decrease: Americans are also getting shorter! It is true that studies have shown the average height of Americans is shrinking, but the reporter described the situation with data I immediately knew was completely false. Here’s the video clip of his statements:
Translation:
“This kind of thing has also become a problem in America. At the time of America’s independence, President George Washington was 188 centimeters tall, about the average height Americans at that time. They were very tall, 6 feet 2 inches! But now, the average height of Americans is 175 centimeters. Americans have shrunk by 10 centimeters! It is now the shortest western country.”
George Washington was about the average size of Americans in 1776? This reporter got George Washington’s height correctly, but the rest of his data was just plain incorrect. My American education taught me that George Washington was a tall man for his time, and this seems to be confirmed by historian David McCullough in his biography of Washington’s friend John Adams (having read it recently, I searched out this quote comparing Adams and his wife to Washington):
“Washington and Adams were nearly the same age, Washington, at forty-three, being just three years older. Powerfully built, he stood nearly a head taller than Adams- six feet four in his boots, taller than almost anyone of the day — and loomed over his short, plump wife.”
Japanese viewers who watched Fuji TV’s news report this evening and believed it might get the impression that Americans were once giants, but that simply was not the case. John Adams’ height of 5 feet 7 inches (170) was actually far closer to the national average of that time (about 5 feet 9 inches).
For a time, Americans were considered the tallest people on average in the world, even growing to taller heights than they were in 1776. However, they have suffered a slight decrease in height since the 1950’s, and average height of American men today is about 5 feet 10 inches. Perhaps the fact that Western Europeans have grown greatly in height and pushed America to 9th in the ranking of tallest nations may have created a misconception in that reporters’ mind about Americans being shorter today than at the time of America’s birth?
I understand that reporting about how Japan isn’t the only first world country that has seen a drop in the average height of it’s men might make viewers feel a little better about their situation. One can most certainly say that the average height of Americans has shrunk in the last century, and if they’d reported it in that way, they’d have achieved the “we’re not alone” effect with fair and accurate reporting. Unfortunately, they reported a ridiculous tall tale about once giant Americans shrinking dramatically over the last 200 years.
A few people might actually remember what they heard on the news today and accept it as factual. I just hope I don’t have to run into one of them and be told how much shorter I am than my countrymen used to be.
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Hm. An explanation for the American case might be that immigrants from latino and asian countries lowered the (formerly northern European-dominated) average?
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I was about to say the same thing. A lot of it is diet. American Indians were seen as extremely tall by the first English settlers. (data from coffin and shoe sizes as well as reports from the time) Within in a generation of Jamestown the average hieght was demonstratable taller than the average hieght of its Eurpean counter part (of the same race, nation and even families). They went through a number of silly theories even suggesting that America made your legs longer because of the land. The real reason was access to wild meat (deer, turkey, fish etc) where as most of Europe lived on bread a bear and only the land holders had regular access to meat. Why has have Japanese men shrank? People to meat ratio. Better lift that ban on US beef. Just ask your short friends what they ate when they were young.
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bread and beer not bear lol
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Woah, that’s some serious shrinkage – three whole millimetres. Frankly I doubt the measurements have that degree of accuracy to begin with.
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I agree, and did you notice that under the column for highschool student height in 1977 they stated that the subjects are presently 47 years old? That suggests that instead of taking data collected in 1977 and comparing it to today’s data they measured the actual 47 year old former high school students, who might have shrunken since them (especially by only a few millimeters). They also did not mention their sample size, so there is no way to tell whether or not their results are statistically significant (which they probably aren’t, as such a small amount of variation would require a HUGE sample size for statistical significance). All in all, if it looks like crap, and it smells like crap…
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The main problem is that the modern data about America is simply incorrect. The CDC (Center for Disease Control – a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has found that people are getting slightly taller in the U.S. The average height for a male is five feet nine and a half inches. The average height for a female is five feet four inches. This is taller than the average height 40 years ago. People have gotten about a half inch taller on average.
I guess the Japanese television programs just make stuff up when there’s no data to support their assertions.
Any assertions about the average height of Americans prior to such records being kept (such as during George Washington’s time) are just fanciful speculation.
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“I guess the Japanese television programs just make stuff up when there’s no data to support their assertions.”
Good heavens! Say it’s natto so!
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Just like ABCNNBCBS and Fox from the states. When in doubt just lie.
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There are records from the early colonies showing that the first offspring born in the Americas were far taller than their parents. The reason was probably their diet. The American Indians in North America had a similar diet and they were considered so tall that Sir Walter Raleigh had 3 brought back to England to show off, one died their from disease. The other two Manteo and Wanchese returned back to what is now North Carolina.
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Seems more like a serious case of nation wide flat feet
And girl probably grow taller because bow legs were much more common thirty years ago?
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Statistics aren’t my strongest point, but these changes are meaningless, as they are clearly less than 1% different from the previous value, and less than a quarter of a percent for the women.
It would just as amazing if there were absolutely no change at all. But of course, any excuse to eventually illustrate the differences between Japanese (they are a super-special race, ya know) and foreigners, anda chance to just make stuff up about foreigners, too!
I love the “common knowledge” (shared by Japanese doctors) that Japanese intestines are longer (or was it shorter) than Westerners’, so they require different treatment for GI problems.
This BS moves from silly to just dangerous.
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….and in all of this there is no mention that 40+ years ago, a majority of immigrants to the US were from European nations while now the majority comes from Asia and South & Central America.
It’s kind of hard to compare a single ethnic *cough* gene pool to one that is constantly being diluted with new blood or at the very least with newly minted citizens standing up to be counted for statistical purposes.
*rolls eyes*
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Maybe the hundreds of extra pounds everyone is carrying around back home is just compressing folks?
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This discussion about heights is one i find (strangely) interesting. The average height has, over the centuries, fluctuated immensely. Around 2000 years ago, during the height of the roman empire, the average male roman was around 5 feet 5, 5 feet 6. Inexplicably, since the fall of the roman empire brought forth great famines, the average height during the middle ages grew considerably. During the crusades it was normal for a western male to be around 6 feet tall. Then the average height again declined, until we reached the 18th-19th centuries, when the average Dutch male was around 5 and a half feet tall. They were, in fact, “mocked” by their neighbors for their “shortness”. 100 years later, the dutch are (on average) the tallest people on earth.
Interesting, huh?
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I hope the Koreans don’t get a hold of this news. It is just the type of news and topic that will have them reveling in orgasmic joy and delight because of the the following two reasons:
1) For some weird reason, Koreans go absolutely bonkers and obsess about height as an indication of racial superiority. Anyone who has spent considerable time in Korea will attest to the fact that they always seem to bring up how much taller Koreans are than other Asians as some measure of their superiority. I guess it means that Koreans think that Manute Bol and Shaquille O’Neil are the ubermen of the universe. Funny thing is that there is no statisical base for this assertion, and even if it were true, it would probably be attributed to the massive forms of plastic surgery that is rampant in Korea ranging from jaw grinding down to leg bone lengthening.
2) The article states that Japanese are getting shorter. Basically a double whammy to the Korean-ego…much like how a 5 year old child will just foam at the mouth with joy when his older, wiser sibling or mother will compliment him/her on being the “smartest boy/girl in the world.”
Anyways, if it strokes their ego and makes them so happy, all the better for them. However, honestly speaking, seeing an Asian nation laughing and boasting that they are taller than other Asian nationalites is like a 4 foot tall midget bragging about how it taller than a 3 foot 11 inch tall midget. However, I guess that’s really important for Koreans.
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Uh…you know it helps when you post this after the one where you go (obviously with a different name), “I am Korean, haha Japanese are short”, not before. I don’t really get why there are people who lurk around trying to instigate these things, though.
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I haven’t seen this from any of the Koreans I know.
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Can’t wait till you are off our land.
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My impression was Japanese (and most populations around the world) are getting taller, especially post war. better diet (ie enough) and some red meat. there has been lots of talk recently about how young japanese women are more shapely/volumptuous in the japanese media.
i think they took a small sample of ojisan and compared it with old data of young men then just made up the rest.
I would guess Koreans (under 40) would be taller on average than japanese of the same demographic. probably due to eating shit loads of battery raised pork and chicken pumped full growth hormone and god knows what.
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Old people shrink. Japan has plenty of those.
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You are right, but they have an “Elixer” of some kind. They belive that the Elixer will slow down their ageing. In case your wondering what I am talking about, I am talking about Yogas. Scientist thinks that this is a ridiculous. They are researching this “Elixer” and they still can’t come up with a solution to the ageing problem. To me, I am surprise that we don’t even belive these people. I think that doing Yoga is a good way to reduce your ageing symptoms.
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Well European American,African American and Native Americans generally have the same height. The only adding factors have to be the influx of Hispanic peoples into the country.
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I read this and couldn’t help but laugh.
Ok, so some guy in Japan gets his facts slightly wrong and all of a sudden you feel you have to write AN ENTIRE ARTICLE defending the average height of Americans?
Calm down my frantic literary pal. It was a small error. It wasn’t intended to insult Americans. And it wasn’t meant to intentionally mislead the Japanese viewers.
A small error, ok? Also, as was mentioned a few times in the comments section, this isn’t the only station or even country to make such an error.
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indeed.. i am happy someone had their thinking cap on!
thank you for mentioning that fact Klauscore… we are the melting pot of the world.
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