> A new study claims that Americans, who were the tallest
>people in the world until around World War II, have been
>outgrown by the Dutch. The average Dutch man is 6 feet 2,
>it says, while the average U.S. man is 5 feet 10.
This is an example of how statistics lie.
The present ethnic groups in the US population that made up the US
population before WWII (such as Scandinavians, Germans, Dutch, etc.) are
still the tallest of their kind in the world, and they still make up the
majority of the US population. The more recent influx of Asians and
Hispanics has reduced the statistical average height, but these populations
are not at all evenly distributed in America. The fact remains that in most
places in America, any given crowd will still be taller than a corresponding
European crowd.
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