Question:
Were
people of the 1830s shorter than the people of today?
Answer:
Yes, a little. But the full answer is a little complicated. Back in
the 1600s, people averaged several inches shorter than our current heights.
This was because they did not eat as well and often had deficiencies in their
diet. American colonists, on the average, got a lot more to eat than most
Europeans, and as the years passed they became quite a bit taller. In fact,
by the time of the American Revolution -- the 1770s -- military records tell
us they were almost as tall as Americans were in the 1940s. Over the last
50 years, Americans have grown taller still. You and your friends will grow
up to be about an inch and a half taller, on the average, than New England
kids of the 1830s.
