Are Americans getting shorter in stature and why?

Answer 1

Not really, what really happened is that countries like the Netherlands outgrew us much faster. As an example, they went up 8 inches in average height within 150 years, while us Americans only went up about 2-3 inches (most of America's increase in height occuring during the first half of the 20th century). So when you hear about Americans getting 'shorter', they're really saying that we're no longer the tallest country in the word and have fallen behind many, many countries in the ranking of average heights per country. I think the best way to describe the reason behind our 'falling behind' in stature ranking is that although we Americans still practice great nutrition (at least far more than 60+ years ago), many European countries not only practice it better (more milk and better diet choices), but they also seem to get around more actively (i.e. biking and walking).