People Are Getting Shorter! Especially Those Who Work In These Professions…

So apparently, people are shrinking? No, not really!  But there appears to be an average height based on your profession.

According to multiple reports, public officials were among the tallest, with an average height of 5 feet, 10.6 inches for men and 5 feet, 4.9 inches for women, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey.

Athletes, entertainers and managers also ranked towards the top of the list for both genders. 

Meanwhile, more blue-collar occupations — such as cleaners, farmhands, machine operators and individuals working in food service — were among the shortest.

The variance in height, past studies have suggested, could be blamed on bias; people are more likely to hire taller candidates for leadership roles, such as public officials, because it is considered an indicator of health and authority.

And, as for the shortest men being farm workers and the shortest women holding cleaning jobs, those occupations reportedly hire the largest share of immigrants, who tend to be shorter, according to the Washington Post.

FUN FACT:

National heights have changed through the years, and according to CDC data, the great American shrinkage has occurred over more than two decades — albeit by quarters of an inch.  

But when comparing the heights of modern-day people in 200 countries to statures from more than 30 years prior, data from NCD Risk Factor Collaboration showed that Americans were slowly becoming shorter overall.

In 1985, 19-year-old American men were 36th tallest in the world, with women at 38th, and by 2019, they had fallen to 47th and 58th respectively.

Genetics, nutrition and access to healthcare play a role in height…Statures for white Americans began to dwindle around 1980 — sorry, Millennials — coinciding with a rise in childhood obesity.

Excess fat tissue amps up estrogen levels, which, in turn, “lead to more mature bones” and earlier-fusing growth plates…In other words, the sooner kids stop growing, the shorter they could potentially be as adults.