Your height?
Siren asked a question about whether or not children are getting shorter and shorter. I said “yes” and did some research. Turns out I was right, as long as you’re American. American’s are statistically shrinking, which was obvious to me – I know the average man my dad’s age are/were taller than the average man my age.
Statistically, the average American male’s height is 5’10. Even British men, quite literally, look down on American males – I say “even” because it used to be the exact opposite.
So…
How tall are you?
How old are you?
What country are you from?
*If you’ve lost an inch or two due to age, do not put your current height down. I’d like the height you were tallest, please. Thanks! :)
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68 Answers
6’0”
Age 37
United States
Height: 5’ 255/256”
Weight: 140
Age:31
Nationality: Oregonian (Little Beirut)
6’1”
41 years young
United States
I put an apostrophe in “American’s” when it shouldn’t have been there. Ew. Ignore that, I’m sleepy. @john: I still can’t believe he said that about us. ;)
I should also have said that the current average American male height is 5’10’’, when it used to be 6’0’’ to 6’1’’. Anyway, on with the answers… This is interesting.
@Tao: The rest of your answers matter. Need to know your age and country of origin, for better statistics.
I couldn’t find any verification online but I remember reading that the average height of soldiers in WWII was 5’9” and the average height of American presidents was 6’, taller than the average American man.
If there is a difference downward it may have to do with the number of immigrants from non-european countries who are often smaller due to the lack of protein in their diets. The grandchildren of immigrants who are eating a more standard American, high protein diet are often much taller than their ancestors
I also want women to answer. I’ll start:
Height: 5’8’’
Age: 23
Country: United States
@Tennis: Oh. Heh. Sorry. :D
Height:5’ 7”
Age: 49
Country: USA
Male
5’6”
21
United States
female, 44(for a week anyway), 5’2, USA
husband is 48, 6’2, USA
male. 19, 5’9” us of a sasnak
I am 5’3’’.
My mom is 5’11’’, and my dad is 5’10’’!!!
I did gymnastics as a child, which is thought to stunt growth.
(I am 22.)
(I am American.)
@girl: Is that why I’m so short? I was also a gymnast…parents are/were 5’7 & 6’2…
@bythebay: It very well may be! I sure love being short, though.
@girl: me, too! I completely subscribe to the good things in little packages phrase!
Female
5’2”
37
American
Husband is:
6’5”
37
American
@cak: Hahaha, wow! There is a 12-inch difference between me and my boyfriend, and I thought that was a lot!
@gos – yeah, it’s pretty funny. It comes in pretty handy, too, if I don’t feel like getting the step ladder out! ;)
6’1”
18 years old
England
5’9 1/2” , but shrinking due to age too,38 years old and live in the USA.
6’3” (@ my tallest)
37
US
5’7.5” (that half inch is important!)
41
USA
Husband:
6’2”
50
USA
5’11
Female
26
Louisville, KY, USA
6’4”
Male
25
I’m a US citizen and an Australian citizen
5’ 10”
33
Male
United States
5’6
26
Female
USA
My husband is 5’4 so for our children’s sake I hope Americans are egetting taller!
woops…...forgot age…....
42
F, 5’8.5” as of right now, age 22, USA.
richardhenry should have declined to post. i like tall british boys too much.
5’10”
female
19
U.S.A.
I’m easily as tall or taller than most men I meet.
@ DrasticDreamer: No harm done. :)
A lot of tall men and women here. Very odd. Why would tall people spend so much time online? It has to be coincidence, but still, it’s notworthy. I, myself, am old, short, and American.
5’9
M
38
USA
I did shrink an inch after an auto accident in 1995. Landing on your feet from a thirty foot drop is not good.
female
5’ 9’’
almost 21 years old
USA
I love all of the short ladies. There is something endearing in a short woman. :) Not that I don’t like the tall ones too.
DrasticDreamer, this is really interesting! I always thought my peers were taller than my dad…okay well maybe not my dad, he’s freakishly tall, but their own dads. My male cousins are taller than their dads (and mine). I’m taller than my mom.
Anyway, can you give me a link or something where I can read more about it? You said you did “some research” – Can we be privy to this research too please?
oh and i’m 5’10. i read in my stat book that i’m taller than 97.5% of ladies in my “age group, which would be between 18 and 24, in the good ol’ usa.
Weird, because I just found this report from the US Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad347.pdf) that says that “mean height has
increased for most ages and for both males and females” between 1960 and 2002. So where are you getting this information that says it’s the opposite? I’m really curious about this conflicting data!
EDIT: urgg, that hanging quote is driving me nuts! please just ignore it!
put me in for
5’ 9”
30
USA
thanks!! **goes to read now**
Um, the first one never actually says that Americans are shorter than Americans were before. It says that the people in some other countries are taller than we are now. It doesn’t say whether we’re actually shorter or whether they’re just growing at a faster rate (that i could find).
and the second one says, “There, the rise in average height that marked its progress as a nation through the 19th and 20th centuries has stopped and has actually reversed – albeit very slightly – in recent years.”
It looks like both of these articles are relying on the work of this guy – John Komlos, so I read some of his work for myself (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=464080) and it seems like he really knows his stuff. More when I finish the paper.
The first one does, I think. If the average American man is now 5’10’’ but the entire article is about how we’re shrinking, that implies that men used to be taller on average. It also said that during Colonial times American men were at their tallest, which obviously means they shrank to where they are now.
Drastic, if you read it quite closely, I think you’ll agree with me that it doesn’t actually say that. Of course I could be completely wrong, and you could find a quote that does. I didn’t find one.
Female
5’7”
40
Australian (although I’ve lived in USA since 2001)
Is 5’10” really the average American height? Wow.
‘Cos my twin brother and I are 6’4.5”, or just about two meters tall.
We love it! We tower over almost everyone where we live, even our teachers. =D
We’ll be seventeen in about Sixty-Eight days, too. Not that I’m keeping track or anything. =3
Genetically, our height doesn’t make sense. We are Nikkejin (Japanese-American) and the tallest person before us in our family tree was our American Grandfather. He was six feet on a good day. =)
Aww, this question was asked so long ago. I’m 22 now. =]
@Allie I know, I thought the exact same thing. I’m 25 now… Time really flies!
5’9” (I measured myself wrong before)
20 years old
England
What? I thought I’d update.
@richardhenry Haha! Generally you’re supposed to grow as you age. :P
Me: 6 feet 4 inches, male, 39, born in USA
Wife: 5 feet 11 inches, female, 41, born in England
Kids:
9 yr: 4 feet 9½ inches, male, 9, born in USA
5 yr: 4 feet 0 inches, male, 5, born in USA
My peak height was 6’.
I’m 65.
I was born in Canada and I now live in the US.
African-American Male.
5’11” in sneakers, 5’10” and a quarter, barefoot.
I’m 27.
Born and raised in the US.
I absolutely f*cking hate my height! I wish I was tall! I’m shorter than most men I know or come across and shorter than a good 10–15% of women.
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