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The Compass: Changing World, Changing Bodies: Is height all in the mind?

Factual

Tall and small businessman

04/03/2020 GMT

Is height all in the mind?

Changing World, Changing Bodies

BBC World Service - The Compass, Changing World, Changing Bodies, Is height all in the mind?

Professor Cregan-Reid explores why people have grown so fast in the 20th Century

Professor Cregan-Reid explores why we have all grown so fast recently. For four millennia we barely grew an extra inch but in the 20th Century pretty much every nation in the world shot up by between three and six inches. 

But it is not a uniform story; the Dutch have carried on growing and today their men and women tower over the world but in the US and the UK, height plateaued decades ago. And is being tall good for you? Yes, it seems, if you are a politician or industrialist; less so if you hanker after a career in entertainment.

The orthodox thinking says nutrition is the key but Professor Cregan-Reid hears about new thinking which claims height is determined by how optimistic society feels about the future- is it really all in the mind?

(Photo: A tall and small businessman look at each other. Credit: Getty Images)

The Compass: Changing World, Changing Bodies

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid looks at what the modern world is doing to our bodies.

Academic and author Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid looks at what the modern world is doing to our bodies and how they are changing in different ways, in different parts of the world. 

For nearly two million years we evolved in close synch with our environment but 250 years ago the industrial revolution happened and changed everything. The innovation and technology it brought had many benefits but there was a physical cost as progress also designed out movement from our lives.

From spending hours on our feet outdoors, our jobs have moved indoors and largely involve sitting down for most of the day in offices, factories or driver cabs. It has resulted in feet that are getting flatter, backs that are weaker and eyes that can't see very much without help.

Dr Cregan-Reid hears from evolutionary biologists, academics, anatomists and public health professionals in Singapore, Kenya, Australia, the UK and the United States; about the impact of modern life on our physical self and what we can do to return our bodies to the state that nature intended.

The good news is there is no need to spend hours on treadmills or pumping iron, in fact we would injure ourselves a lot less if we were a bit more cautious when exercising.  Our bodies are marvellously adaptable and re-introducing small movements into our daily lives in most cases will do the trick!

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