British men are now 4 inches BIGGER* than 100 years ago… sorry lads, that’s just in height
Despite the beefing up, European and Asian nations remain more strapping in size as British women hit 5ft 5in
THE average British person is over four inches taller than a century ago.
But our European cousins still tower above us, a global study reveals.
Researchers tracked the height of 18-year-olds between 1914 and 2014.
They found British men had grown from 5ft 6in to 5ft 10in in that time.
The spurt took them from 36th in the world to 31st. Blokes from France, Germany and Ireland are taller — and the Dutch the biggest at 6ft.
Americans and Chinese are shorter than UK men.
Meanwhile, British women hit 5ft 5in from 5ft in 1914. They rank 38th, up from 57th.
Latvian females are the tallest on the planet, averaging 5ft 7in.
The top ten nations in 2014 for both sexes were dominated by European countries and featured no English-speaking nations.
The Imperial College London study also found some countries have stopped growing over the past 30 to 40 years.
The US was one of the first high-income countries to plateau. Other countries that have seen similar patterns include the UK.
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Prof Majid Ezzati said: “The English-speaking world, especially the US, is falling behind other high-income nations in Europe and Asia Pacific.
“Together with the poor performance of these countries in terms of obesity, this emphasises the need for more effective policies towards healthy nutrition.”
Some studies suggest taller people tend to live longer, gain a better education and earn more.
*Sorry, lads, that's just in height
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