36、Young people have a new shape these days. They are about 20 pounds heavier than people of their age were 60 years ago. They are about four inches taller, too. These facts come from J. M. Tanner, a professor in England.
J. M. Tanner has been measuring people from all over the world for a long time. He has also studied people's growth records of the past 100 years.
"Children today are bigger than ever before," he says. "Today's nine-year-olds look like eleven-year-olds looked back in 1900."
According to Tanner, adults are also taller than ever before.
But the biggest change can be seen in young people. That's because boys used to keep on growing until they reached age 26. But today they stop growing at 18 or 19. Most girls stop growing even earlier. So today's teenagers are bigger than 26-year-olds were 60 years ago.
What is causing this change? Professor Tanner says it's proper food. Good food alone cannot make you grow beyond your natural limits. Your final height is partly caused by the height of your parents and grandparents. But eating proper food can help you reach your final height, and reach it early in life.
Will people keep on getting bigger? Will we have a race of giants? No - at least not if the US is an example. Tanner says that we have eaten proper food for years, and our growth rate has already begun to level off.