Are humans getting taller? Here's what the data says.
When Oliver Rioux joined the Florida Gators basketball team, he became the tallest basketball player ever, standing at 7 feet 9 inches.
Professor David Geary, a cognitive scientist and evolutionary psychologist, has researched the topic of heights and says humans have been getting taller.
"Heights have gone up. They don't inevitably go up, it just depends on kind of the conditions that people are growing up," Geary said.
Global data shows that both men and women are getting taller. In 1896, the average U.S. male height was just 5 feet 6 inches. By 1996, it had climbed to 5 feet 8 inches. But not everyone is reaching new heights equally.
"You're living in countries that have vaccinations, good health care, good nutrition and so forth — everybody's taller. Men are taller and women are taller. And if we look at countries where a lot of people are sick frequently, where frequently there's chronic poor nutrition and so forth, then people are shorter," Geary said.
Geary's research also shows that while men are growing taller at a faster rate than women, women are living longer than men.
"The lifespan difference where women live longer than men is increasing as well, with women gaining more years of life than men are," Geary said.
Genetics are part of the tall tale, too.
Take the Trapp family from Esko, Minnesota, named the tallest family in the U.S., with an average height of 6 feet 8 inches.
The tallest person ever recorded was Robert Wadlow, born in Illinois a century ago. He grew to an unbelievable 8 feet 11 inches.
The Netherlands boasts the tallest average male height at nearly 5 feet 10 inches.
While there are benefits to being taller, studies show taller people may be more prone to cancer and cardiovascular issues, but they also tend to pursue higher education and earn better incomes.
Geary says growth likely peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s in developed countries, so don't expect significant height increases over the next century.
