Are USA putting something in the water?

Demetrius

Maybe it's due to all those immegrants who left their home countries in a hurry. Such as us Irish. During the potato famine for instance, only those who were fit and healthy made it to the new world. Their "good genes", along with other immegrants could have something to do with it. Of course the rest of us were left here to fester.:)

I have a few cousins who were brought up in America, and in my opinion, they do seem to be healthier. Their parents (my aunt and uncle) would have left in the 60's and would have come from a rural background, which meant that when they got to the States, their diet would have been similiar to the Irish diet back then, yet a little richer due to food being of a better quality back then.

Another point, which is probably irrelevant to this thread, is that tradionally people from rural backgrounds would have been much taller than those from an urban environment due to ease of access to fresh food. It's only within the last hundred years (probably less. Children in parts of Glasgow had ricketts up to the 1950s) that urban dwellers have caught up, perhaps due to better preservation techniques.

Or else due to the proliferation of junk food, some sort of equilibrium has been established.

phantom_lord

I remember talking to an American girl who I thought was easily my age (18) or older. She was 14!! Crazy.

Dooom

Is it not a possibility that these so-called 13 and 14 year olds are just actors who are actually 18+?
It's tv after all...

Blisterman

It's not just Americans. It's Germans too. All the Germans I know, look much older than they really are.

slipss

Ok maybe I put too much emphasis on the telly thing, but I did say reality shows not non-fiction with actors (and before some smart arse points out that they probably use actors in some of the reality shows, well ha, beat you too it). I just used the telly analogy because as you would expect, most americans that I see on a day to day basis live inside my telly, but I have noticed this in the Americans I've met in person over here and abroad aswell.

Nevyn

This is not a new thing tbh I was passing as a 21 to 23 year old when I was 15.

constitutionus

TBH it is a real phenomenon. i work in foreign exchange and anyone who wants to change travelers cheques has to present a passport for ID and the number of american teenagers that could pass for 21 is frightening. no wonder bouncers are so tough on them. i had an entire class come in once (yes its was so much fun that day:D ) and i wouldve sworn blind they were at least 18, turns out on the passports they were average age 14. bloody frightening:eek:

pvt. joker

what the freak is going on in this thread. do you guys really believe this nonsense?

SpAcEd OuT

could be the same as argentina, high levels of creatine in the meat and growth hormones, my mate went away to America for 3 months and came back huge, wasn't even hitting the gym that much said he just ate loads of meat over there

Black Swan

The OP asked why are they taller? Put all the hype aside. One word: nutrition.

SpAcEd OuT

yeah hormones in meat

http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/hormones_meat.htm

Black Swan

Ever been to Korea. I have. The people in the north and south are families separated by a DMZ, yet those in the south are significantly taller and healthier than those in the north. Nutrition vs. near starvation.

Lust4Life

OP, were they from Texas? They say everything is bigger in Texas.

coyote6

There also is talk of hormones in hair products and the steroids in the beef thing has been talked about quite a bit. But it is definitely a phenomenon. You see girls who are 12 that look like they're easily 21.

And speakin' of big... I work at a place that the average guy is the size of an NFL linebacker... around 6'2" 230-250 lbs. and not of the fat variety. Around here they call it "corn fed" but most likely it's because were half-breed alien spawn.:D

Must....go...the.. mothership...is... calling.

Lirange

Americans had been the tallest people in the world for well over a century. But they have been passed by the Dutch.

It's a combination of genetics and diet. There is latent potential in the genes which manifests itself in the gene pool over time with the optimum diet. That being one high in protein. The height gap between Americans and Europeans isn't what it used to be. The dietary habits don't differ as much as they once did. Americans are still tall by global standards but with immigration from Non-European sources and the maxing out of genetic height potential they are unlikely to regain the mantle as the worlds tallest people from the Dutch, who themselves are likely to be overtaken by the Norweigians.

They are still growing horizontal though ... and that's another trend where Europe is behind the Americans but naturally will be narrowing the gap in the future as with height.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Thaedydal wrote:

I did mean Horrormoans as I know too well the horror they can be.

ah, so that's it. it your hormones playing up.

sorry i thought you were on about growth hormones as the thread is on about size.

i think that could be construed as posting off the topic so.

ferdi

coyote6 wrote:

You see girls who are 12 that look like they're easily 21.

agreed. this is ****ed up. no one has mentioned that while these children are physically and sexually mature before they reach high school, they cant really possess the emotional faculties to cope with the situations that they will find themselves in....

Reganio 2

Lirange wrote:

They are still growing horizontal though ... and that's another trend where Europe is behind the Americans but naturally will be narrowing the gap in the future as with height.

I'm working on it devoted to the cause for my country.

I don't know about the height thing. I am 16, 6foot size 13 feet and could easily pass for a 19 year old and probably older. My mates are huge as well 15 year old mate is easily 6"1 and growing and another mate is slightly under 6 foot and built like a tank.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

The OP asked why are they taller? Put all the hype aside. One word: nutrition.

in America, nutrition's = growth hormones

Sysiphus

r3nu4l wrote:

Yep all of this combined with the "Vite-amin" (vitamin) tablets they take.
[/SIZE]

Hate to burst the bubble (well not realy) but you ****e about 95% of the V you "take". Your body, bieng the1i million year old nutrient enginge is well capable of absorbing all it needs from standard fare, without the chemecial genius of h-wood intent an marketin di-hydrogen oxygen. With all the persuant health benifits and risk.

Black Swan

slipss wrote:

How come American kids are so overgrown? supply or what?

Nutrition. Many of these big kids have relatives from Ireland who came to the USA to escape the potato famine, so genetically they are pretty much the same.

If you have lived and travelled most of your life outside the USA as I have, you would be shocked by the abundance, variety, and low cost of foods in the USA. And the meals that kids consume in the USA seem much larger than elsewhere, hence their problem with overweight kids.

Exit

As people have already said, it's to do with their food intake. In particular, I'd say it's because of them serving bigger portions and in particular, eating more steak. I know after a summer of eating steak (mind you, this was in Canada) and coupled with basic exercise, I had bulked up considerably in the upper body. Think of what a lifetime of that will do to you.

I'd also suggest that sports plays a role. In school, they play a lot more sports than Ireland. Not only that, their sports are based on the upper body (football, baseball, basketball) whereas ours are mostly based on the legs and feet.

It's something you notice a lot in North America, but not just with teenagers. The average 20something guy is fairly muscular and well-built in their upper body.

r3nu4l

Sysiphus wrote:

Hate to burst the bubble (well not realy) but you ****e about 95% of the V you "take". Your body, bieng the1i million year old nutrient enginge is well capable of absorbing all it needs from standard fare, without the chemecial genius of h-wood intent an marketin di-hydrogen oxygen. With all the persuant health benifits and risk.

Hate to burst your bubble but yes, as a Biologist I'm well aware of that, it was more a comment on the belief in and reliance on "vite-amins" and pills in general within the US population as a whole A bit like the way French people (sweeping generalisation) rely on antibiotics to "cure" their viral colds, when antibiotics can never cure a cold

challengemaster

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

Nutrition. Many of these big kids have relatives from Ireland who came to the USA to escape the potato famine, so genetically they are pretty much the same.

last i heard, the number was about 40% of all americans have irish roots.

rubadub

frobisher wrote:

Eh....um.... I have an idea. Maybe they use actors that are older than they say they are?:rolleyes:

That is very true, but the OP was talking about judge judy which are not actors, another was talking of people in the crowd on MTV. In beverly hills 90210 and dawsons creek they were all auld lads and grannies, I remember first seeing that dawsons crap and thinking they were supposed to be in their 30's! the fecking language out of them, going around talking like professors of english with phds in philosophy.

You often hear that the average breast size has increased, but they rarely give the real reason, people are getting fatter, it is possible that breast size could have decreased if it was based on peoples weights, e.g. the average 9 stone woman could be 34b now but could have been 34c in the 60's.

Tall Tom

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

the beef etc over there is full of growth hormones.

I think you may be right. I'm a freak at 6'7" tall.

Not to mention all of today's teenage girls who are fully blossoming in their early teens. It's insane!!!

brianthebard

Ever watch hogan's show on mtv? His son and daughter are 14 and 16 respectively, but they look well over 18 and 20 and could easily pass for more I think.

BlueSpiral

No wonder I had a huge growth spurt while I was over there. Drank 2 glasses of milk everyday over there for two weeks, grew a few inches. I'm still that height from when I came back.


....


I need some growth hormones.