Dare to Ask: Why are American-born Asian children taller?

By Phillip Milano

The Florida Times-Union

Question

Why are American-born or American-raised Asian children taller than non-American born Asians?

B., 25, Asian, San Diego

Replies

I, too, am taller than my mother and am catching up on my father. My mom agrees I ate much better than she did as a child, partly for financial reasons and partly because her generation had more knowledge about the healthiest foods for their children.

Nicole, 19, Toronto

It may also be growth hormones are finding their way throughout the food chain. When I graduated from high school in 1978, being 6 feet was regarded as tall; now, heights of 6 feet 4 and above are not uncommon.

Augustine, white, Columbia, S.C.

Current knowledge on evolution would say we can't genetically evolve into a population of taller people in just a few generations. So most likely it's that we have had different diets.

Beth, 25, white, United Kingdom

I think it is because the United States is much larger than Vietnam and you get to move around and have different experiences. An example is a goldfish. If you put one in a bowl it will grow to a limit depending on the bowl. Take the fish, and throw it in a lake. The lake is now the limit to how large the fish can grow.

Yan, 28, Asian, Atlanta

Quantity and quality of diet. Traditional cultures were aware of this. Aspiring sumo wrestlers in Japan eat a special high-protein diet in their teens to increase height and weight.

Doug, 31, white, Seattle

Expert says

We're just going to go on record here and state we don't think people get taller because they live on a larger landmass. There.

However, they likely do because of diet, said Laura Kelley, who has traveled the world studying culture and cuisine, lectures on Asian food and published the cookbook "The Silk Road Gourmet" this year.

"What we thought were locked-in genetic potentials are turning out to be more plastic," she said.

Asian-Americans aren't the only ones getting taller than their overseas counterparts, but it may seem more pronounced because they're moving from shorter heights of, say, 5 feet 2, to 5 feet 7 in just a generation and a half.

The reason: more protein and calcium in the diet.

"Protein consumption in North America is huge compared to what most Asians even today eat. Eating a half pound of meat is unheard of. They might eat some lamb, and eat the eyeballs, shanks, everything. Here, we eat the muscle and get that nutritional value."

The Western diet and lifestyle is not perfect, of course. There's sugar and fat, and sitting around a lot ...

"We aren't seeing it with Asian-Americans yet, but with Native Americans, as they've moved from indigenous ways, you have seen huge increases in weight and diabetes," Kelley said. "It's also happening in India. As they move to adopting a Western lifestyle, you see an increase in heart disease."

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Phillip Milano, author of I Can't Believe You Asked That! (Perigee), moderates cross-cultural dialogue at Y? The National Forum on People's Differences. Visit www.yforum.com to submit questions and answers. Send general column comments to phillip.milano@jacksonville.com. You can also hear his podcasts or watch his TV spots.