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Did Natural Selection Make the Dutch the Tallest People On the Planet?
sciencehabit writes The Dutch population has gained an impressive 20 centimeters in the past 150 years and is now officially the tallest on the planet. Scientists chalk up most of that increase to rising wealth, a rich diet, and good health care, but a new study suggests something else is going on as well: The Dutch growth spurt may be an example of human evolution in action. The study shows that tall Dutch men on average have more children than their shorter counterparts, and that more of their children survive. That suggests genes that help make people tall are becoming more frequent among the Dutch. "This study drives home the message that the human population is still subject to natural selection," says Stephen Stearns, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University who wasn't involved in the work. "It strikes at the core of our understanding of human nature, and how malleable it is."
I'm all for evolution, but I didn't think it functioned on 150-year timescales?
If natural selection is the driving factor in increasing height among the Dutch, wouldn't other races have followed the same selection/mating patterns too? Especially in nearby nations with a similar cultural? Seems like there is some other factors involved...
Dutch people ale avid milk drinkers and meat eaters. The average height of Dutch people has increased significantly over the past generations since WW-II, coinciding with the increasing availability of dairy products (there's been a surplus, referred to as 'The Milk Puddle' and the 'Butter Mountain') and cheaper meat ('Kilo Crackers' and 'Poof Chickens'). In the 60s and 70s there were elaborate national media campaigns to encourage milk consumption. Milk was even distributed for free by elementary schools in the 70s and early 80s. The use of growth hormone in dairy cattle is forbidden. Yet, it leaves me wondering whether there's a relation between hormones, dairy intake and increased height of Dutch people over the generations.
Maybe because the US, Liberia, and Myanmar are the only 3 countries in the ENTIRE WORLD that have not officially converted to metric.
Oh, and if you're curious, I'm an American who's completed all my schooling exclusively in the USA, and I was only taught metric.
I had to learn to use that old imperial system to interact with you stubborn old fossils clinging to an incomprehensible hodgepodge.
Perhaps I should add that I graduated in 1984.
Interesting, esp. in the light of facts, the Dutch have the lowest per capita no. of teen pregnancies and use of antibiotics...
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