Back when I travelled to Palestine for the very first time - this seems like ages ago, now - I was struck by how small many of the people I encountered were.
I am a European woman of average height, and I found myself, literally, speaking to Palestinian men "at eye level" and, literally, "looking down upon" women.
Then, I met their parents and their younger siblings! And while, on average, I would still say that the average British person is taller than the average Palestinian one (just like the average Dutch person is taller than your average Brit), these people were noticeable less short.
I eventually mentioned this to a friend I had recently made, a doctor. She sort of laughed at me and said "what you are seeing is children who grew up during a war - the people you think are short were children during the worst of the 1st intifada! They stayed short because they never had enough! Not enough food, not enough safety, not enough of anything. They were traumatised, and they just stopped growing!"
Two decades later, I am still taken aback by her words (but she was right)!