George Washington’s Height Was Average, Americans Have Shrunk Dramatically Since 1776?

FTV 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 FTV’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 FTV’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.