Are people getting bigger and bigger

[Omydearehert]

When I look at old photographs everyone seems quite regularly sized, not too dissimilar from today (discounting the majority of us who are overweight that is). But then I look at my family photographs and remember that my grandmother was 153cm tall and didn't look unusually short (1930s).

I attempted to try on a pair of 50s gloves in an antique shop and I (smallish hands, 5'2) had no chance of fitting my sausages into them.

My significantly younger siblings and their friends tower over me. Both of them wear larger shoes than I do.

I seem to have completely forgotten how to properly phrase my question, but am I going mad in thinking that it's as if every few years the children born grow bigger than the ones before?

Taller- yes. Better nutrition etc more food

Fatter- also yes

I've been to the Fashion museum in Bath and some of the victorian and regency dresses are miniscule in terms of length.

My niece had bigger feet than me by the time she was 10 years old.

They say nutrition is better but my grandmother who wasn’t even 5 ft ate only meat, dairy and vegetables. I lived off chips and toast for the first 16 years of my life but still ended up 5 inches taller than her. Perhaps there’s more growth hormones in our modern day food.

Well, yes. It's quite a well known fact. Children are also going into puberty younger.

Maybe hormones in the environment, added vitamins to everything or something of the sort?

'Sausages' lol 🤣

You can literally see it in the women in my family (though we are still all short!)

Nan was 4'11"
Mum is 5'1"
I am 5'3"
My sister 5'5

I wonder if it's better maternal health or something?

I thought small feet was just genes/random?

I’m a 3 size and a half. I wasn’t starved or Chinese foot-bound as a child or anything.

Nutrition and hormones. We are much bigger frame wise and height wise than previous generations.
I was at a museum recently and there were uniforms for nursery maids at a training school in 1900s on display so girls in mid/late teens and they wouldn’t have fitted any of my 15 year old or her friends (none are overweight) - probably more likely to fit a slight modern 10 year old. Shoes, gloves, baby bonnets are tiny.
Police museum had average heights of males arrested who were late teens/20s - 5ft 3 etc was norm similar era.

Yes. Better diet, better health, fewer childhood illnesses.

I remember the Haworth Parsonage museum, and the tiny clothes the Bronte sisters wore. But they were malnourished, had TB and all died young And this was despite their relatively "middle class" upbringing!

Yup. Even as a relatively slim young girl I couldn’t get any of my mama’s rings on any of my fingers except the pinky! I had one which I inherited made larger to fit, but have since put on a shed load of weight. Don’t think it will survive being made bigger again

I went through Stow on the Wold the other day and was amazed at how tiny the doors were to all the houses and shops!! We were joking that we’d have to send DD in alone as DS is too tall and I’m too wide

Yeah! My gran still has her wedding dress and it has never gone anywhere near me. My size 4-6 sister can fit it though 🤣

I'm shorter than my 3 adult DDs and my youngest (7) we estimate will be 4'' taller than me too. I'm 5' 5''.

My DM was taller than me and my dad was 6' 6'' !

I had good nutrition but my DM smoked all the way through her pregnancy with me - not that unusual back then, early '70s. I recon it stunted my height.

We're bigger in every way and this has been a thing through the centuries. I'm a shade over 5'10'' and when I was 11 and just over 5 ft, my parents took me to Rievaulx Abbey. I had to duck to get through some of the doors. My 6 ft 2 dad didn't even try.

vaccinations play a big part in this, as well as nutrition

@shouldistop

Well, yes. It's quite a well known fact. Children are also going into puberty younger.

I find this quite interesting, as isn't it a common thought (statistical fact, I thought) that most girls stop growing in height within X time of starting their periods? So if girls are going into puberty earlier, wouldn't it also fall that they stop growing earlier too?

Anecdotally, my parents are average height (mum just below 5ft 2, dad just above at 5ft 10) and my siblings and I are all (3 of us) several inches each above the average.

We know much more today than ever about development both in the womb and childhood so it's probably contributing to us growing!

A) nutrition
B) no one smokes or drinks in pregnancy any more (many women did in 30s/40s/50s)
C) reduced pollution - better respiratory health but also clearer air so more vitamin D and less rickets
D) environmental hormone exposure
E) vaccinations/fewer severe illnesses
F) obesity (overweight children are usually taller too)..

It's not all bad news. My children are definitely more active & fitter than I was as a child, cycling and swimming a lot. They also eat a lot less sugar, salt, and processed food and more fresh fruit & vegetables.

Definitely.

I volunteer at a place that has donations of e.g. WW2 Admirals uniforms, Victorian wedding dresses, 1950's tail coats.

No modern person over the age of 12 can fit in them.

@araiwa

Taller- yes. Better nutrition etc more food

Fatter- also yes

Actually much worse nutrition.

The “western diet” sees the majority over fed and undernourished.

Hence being bigger/obesity crisis.

@flibberyjibbery8

We know much more today than ever about development both in the womb and childhood so it's probably contributing to us growing!

And yet the myths of low fat being healthy and milk building bones continue to abound. The food industry makes billions out of making us ill and the majority buy vitamins and drugs to feel well rather than starting with the basics.

How many varieties of veg does the average Brit eat over the course of a week? As for the 5 a day - well that’s a joke, isn’t it?

Yes. All over.
Some of this is good, but normalising obesity isn't. (and I need to lose a couple of stone) Next think I'm a size 10. Zara and H&M think I'm an XL. Can't both be right and I know which one is more likely to be correct.