W ciągu ostatnich 100 lat Rosjanie urośli o 10 centymetrów. Dlaczego wzrost ludzi zmieniał się w czasie?

A height of 160 cm used to be considered tall, but today this is not the case. Why has there been such a jump in height? Let’s find out together with Alexander Karasev, Executive Director of Atlas Biomedical Holding, pediatrician, member of the European Society of Human Genetics and the Federation of Laboratory Medicine, and Elvina Ryazanova, social anthropologist.

Pediatrician, member of the European Society of Human Genetics

Humanity is gradually “growing up”. If 50 years ago the average human height was 160 cm, now it is 5 cm more.

social anthropologist

It cannot be said that modern man is increasing in height everywhere. It all depends on the country of residence and the diet followed in that region.

How has human height changed over the last 100 years?

Scientists say that growth used to be smaller, and historical museums confirm this. Knight’s armor, for example, is unlikely to fit the average adult today. The fact is that over the last 100 years, people have grown taller by an average of 10 centimeters. The question arises: when exactly did such a leap occur?

British researchers found out that people became taller in the period from 1896 to 1996. During this time, we not only grew taller, but our physique also changed, and our arms and legs lengthened. You’ve probably noticed those long-legged athletes or broad-shouldered basketball players. Take Lamont Jacobs, winner of the 100-meter dash at the Tokyo Olympics, for example: he’s 186 centimeters tall. That’s 6 centimeters taller than Jesse Owens, the American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Germany (in front of Adolf Hitler, by the way).

Acceleration (acceleration of growth and development) affected, of course, not only athletes, but all people. At the same time, these indicators differ from country to country. Over the last 100 years, the French have grown 8 centimeters taller, the Swedes 15 centimeters taller, and the Iranians 17 centimeters taller. South Koreans have surpassed everyone and have grown as much as 20 centimeters. The Netherlands surpassed America and became the tallest nation in the world: the average height of the Dutch is 185 cm. In Russia, the average height has grown by 10 centimeters. The tallest used to be Americans: before the Second World War their average height was 177 cm, but by the end of the XX century stagnated.

Now the tallest men and women live in the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Denmark, Czech Republic and Serbia. The shortest people are Timor-Leste (their height is 160 centimeters) and Guatemalan women (their height is 149 centimeters).

In other parts of the world, especially in South Asia and parts of Africa, residents have not gained much in height. And in some non-Western countries, height has even declined. This is due to wars, disease, food shortages, and other problems. For example, closer to 1970, people in South Africa became shorter. Scientists believe that this is due to population growth and the deterioration of the economy during structural adjustment.

Alexander Karasev

pediatrician, member of the European Society of Human Genetics

If you look at history, growth not only increased but also decreased. Neanderthals were shorter than modern humans (155-165 cm), but Cro-Magnons were almost the same height (175-180 cm). Approximately the same height was in the inhabitants of ancient Egypt and representatives of the Cretan-Minoan civilization. In the Middle Ages the growth began to decrease. But over the last 100 years, body length has increased dramatically again.