Study finds country with the tallest people in the world

Many things have changed over the past hundreds of years, and that includes how tall people are.

Experts say it's because of better nutrition and health but those results depend on location and for various reasons.

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A study published on eLIFE says, "People from different countries grow to different heights. This may be partly due to genetic, but most differences in height between countries have other causes."

The same study found some countries have even reported their average adult height decreased.

Using data from about 1,500 worldwide, researchers analyzed people's height born between 1896 and 1996.

It found countries with the tallest men were The Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia, and the countries with the tallest women were Latvia, The Netherlands and Estonia.

Americans, on the other hand, seem to be shrinking when compared to the rest of the world. U.S. men who once ranked among the third tallest in the world one hundred years ago now find themselves at 37th. While American women dropped from fourth tallest to 42nd.

Authors attribute these height to both genetics and external factors saying, "Nutrition and infections during childhood and adolescence are particularly important determinants of height during adulthood."

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