Re: Human length and diet/medicine VS "evolution"


DougC wrote:
unrestrained wrote:

The Japanese have grown about 4 inches since WWII; diet is a good guess
for its cause.

Diet is not a good guess.

Are you seriously suggesting that they *evolved to be 10 cm taller on
the average, in two generations?


It's doubtful that ethnic European have evolved a
similar amount since medieval times, altho we have grown.

Have you never heard the story which I mentioned above:
" A suit of armor from the middle ages in Europe is
now about the size for a 12 year old boy. " ??

I never denied that we are taller. I instead assert that we are taller
for reasons other than genetic. There are two reasons other that
genetics for one's height: nutrition and stress of various kinds. I
don't know if our lives are less stressfult thatn they were 500 years
ago, perhaps they are. Certainly we eat differently. I don't see what
else would affect the average Japanese so quickly. After WWII they were
prosperous and adapted much of the western diet - more meat, for one
thin, and they consume some dairy products (most Asian traditional
diets avoid it; many adult ethnic Asian cannot completely digest milk
without some digestive upset).


Numerous studies have confirmed that malnutrition can stunt growth.

That is the growth of one individual. Did you catch the story about
the boxer's ears?
If an individual is stunted by malnutrition or has one arm amputated
there is no effect on the genetics in his sperm. If he shaves his
head, his sons will not be born bald. Why is that so difficult?

Why is that pertinent?

I am not speaking of genetically aquired characteristics. Is it
inconceivable that peasant farmers might have an inadequate diet for
many generations in a row?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height

http://historymedren.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://my.webmd.com/content/article/93/102501.htm%3Flastselectedguid=%257B5FE84E90%2DBC77%2D4056%2DA91C%2D9531713CA348%257D


Doug Chandler

Kermit

.

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