The Dutch are the tallest people in the world, confirms a new study published today in a trade publication by researchers in the US and Germany. Dutch men are now 4.7cms taller than white American males while Dutch women have outgrown their US counterparts by 5.7 cms.

According to professors John Komlos of Munich University and Benjamin Lauderdale of Princeton, the Norwegians, Danish and Germans too are now taller than Americans. This is a ‘stark reversal of the pattern in the mid-19th century,’ the researchers say in the Annals of Human Biology.
The reason for the turnaround is something of a puzzle, the researchers admit. But they believe it could be connected to diet and healthcare.