A four year study has resulted in a report stating that the Spanish are now just as tall, on average, as the rest of their European counterparts. But they are also fatter.
The study, carried out by five university hospitals during the period 2000 to 2004, involved the study of 34,000 people from different parts of the country, namely Barcelona, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Andalusia.
The report shows that the Spanish, especially the women, have experienced a significant growth in height, weight and body mass index (BMI) and now only the Dutch, Germans and Swedes are taller. Since 1988, men have grown in height between 1.4 and 3.4 centimetres and women by between 2.6 and 4.2 centimetres. It is thought that better living conditions, the eradication of many infectious diseases and the increased intake of nutrients are the main factors behind this significant growth.
However, the bad news is that they have been growing in all directions, especially the males of the population. There has apparently been a disproportionate increase in weight over height, meaning a trend towards obesity at similar levels to those in the USA.
In Europe, the average height of adult males is 1.73 metres. In the nineteenth century, Americans were apparently between three and nine centimetres taller than their Northern and Western European counterparts. Now, the British and Dutch are both between 1.2 and 2.7 centimetres taller than those on the other side of the pond.