Within the course of the 20th century the American population went through a metamorphosis from being the tallest in the world, to being among the most overweight. The American height advantage over Western and Northern Europeans was between 3 and 9 cm in the middle of the 19 th century. Americans were also underweight. However, today, the exact opposite is the case as the Dutch, Swedes, and Norwegians are the tallest, and the Danes, British and Germans -even the East-Germans -are also taller, towering over the Americans by as much as 3-7 cm. Americans also live shorter. The hypothesis is worth considering that this adverse development is related to the greater social inequality, an inferior health-care system, and fewer social safety nets in the United States than in Western and NorthernEurope, in spite of higher per capita income. The West-and Northern European welfare states, with cradle to grave health and unemployment insurance currently provide a more propitious environment for the biological standard of living than its US counterpart.Word Count of Abstract: 168
Zusammenfassung: Die durchschnittliche Körpergröße einer Bevölkerung kann als Maß für den "biologischen Wohlstand" verwendet werden. Wenn Menschen während ihrer Wachstumsphase regelmäßig genügend kalorienhaltige und gesunde Nahrung erhalten und medizinisch gut versorgt sind, dann erreichen sie hohe Körpergrößen. Die Entwicklung der Körpergrößen in Deutschland wird mit dem Bundes-Gesundheitssurvey 1998 untersucht. Demnach sind westdeutsche Männer und Frauen größer als Ostdeutsche. Seit dem Mauerfall scheinen ostdeutsche Männer die westdeutschen Männer einzuholen; ostdeutsche Frauen dagegen erfahren keinen Wachstumsschub. Neben diesem zentralen Ergebnis werden auch Effekte des Urbanisierungsgrades und der sozialen Schicht diskutiert.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.