New research has shown that people with better living standards grow taller. This conclusion was reached through a study conducted by Professor Bernard Harris from the University of South Hampton. He also found that natives of Scotland were taller than those of England 200 years ago, but they are now notably shorter. This shows the connection between nutrition and economic development and height.

The study was released in a book called The Changing Body, which explores the links of economic development and nutrition on the European and North American continents for the past 400 years. Two centuries ago, substantial differences existed in height between those in the working class and those considered upper class.

According to Harris, the work displays that there are dramatic changes in children’s health as evidenced by the adult height over the past century. This is proven by additional research from other groups that show a close link between the health of a person in their childhood years and their health as they grow older.

Harris also states that this proves that the health of modern children will play a pivotal role in determining the economic status of future generations because they show how health over time, life expectancy, and economic performance are affected.

Dramatic differences were also illustrated between boys of different economic incomes in 19th century Europe. This included a comparison of poor boys in London and those who attended the Royal Military Academy, with students attending higher education institutions and army recruits, and the children of those in unskilled manual labor households and elite families in the Netherlands.

For instance, a 14 year old child of the working class in the 1780s was 1.3m, while a child of the upper class was at an average of 1.55m. As health services, sanitation, education, and nutrition have become more easily obtainable by all social classes, children in the upper class still grow taller, but more slowly, than those of the working class. The average difference between the two classes was narrow down to 2.06m.

Research has also shown height variations between different areas of Europe and the UK. Two hundred years ago, citizens of Scotland were 2.3cm taller than those who lived in Southern England, and Norwegians had the shortest height average in Europe.

Modern male Scots average 1.73m in height, which is shorter than those who live in Southeast England, who average 1.75m. The Norwegians are now the second tallest people in Europe; only the Dutch grow taller naturally. Harris claims that since the diet and sanitation methods of the southeast are more efficient than those in Scotland, this illustrates the pattern of economic and social change over the past 200 years.