The Dutch are getting taller ... what? why?

Dutch men are tall, and Dutch women apparently like it that way.

Scientists have found that natural selection—women choosing taller men to mate with—is a factor in the height of Dutch men, which has rocketed up by 20 cm (7.9 inches) over the past 200 years, while the heights of people in other similarly developed nations has—literally­—only inched up.


In the mid 18th century, Dutch soldiers measured an average height of 165 cm (5 feet 4 inches). Back then, American soldiers “towered over” the Dutch by up to eight centimeters, according to research published today by the Royal Society in the UK.

But things have changed. Dutch men are now the tallest in the world, with an average man reaching 184 cm (6 feet). The Dutch are closely followed by Scandinavians, and are far taller than Americans, who have only grown by 6 cm (2.4 inches) over the same time period, to around 178 cm (5 feet 10 inches).

Taller than average men had more children overall, and more children that survived, while shorter men were less likely to reproduce.

Because tall men are likely to pass on the genes that made them tall, the outcome suggests that—in contrast to Americans—the Dutch population is evolving to become taller, Stulp says. "This is not what we've seen in other studies—that's what makes it exciting," says evolutionary biologist Simon Verhulst of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, who was Stulp's Ph.D. adviser but wasn't involved in the current study. Verhulst points out that the team can't be certain that genes involved in height are actually becoming more frequent, however, as the authors acknowledge.

The study suggests that sexual selection is at work in the Dutch population, Stearns says: Dutch women may prefer taller men because they expect them to have more resources to invest in their children. But there are also other possibilities. It could be that taller men are more resistant to disease, Stearns says, or that they are more likely to divorce and start a second family. "It will be a difficult question to answer.”

Another question is why tall men in Holland are at a reproductive advantage but those in the United States are not. Stulp says he can only speculate. One reason may be that humans often choose a partner who's not much shorter or taller than they are themselves. Because shorter women in the United States have more children, tall men may do worse than those of average height because they're less likely to partner with a short woman.

Apparently the Dutch and Americans have different preferences

Stulp himself is Dutch and 6 feet 7 inches tall. But his parents are not especially tall.

"It must be all the milk [I drank]," he says.

Good diet is, in fact, a major factor in the stature of his countrymen.

"We have also the welfare state and an excellent health care system and we also have low levels of social inequality, which also has been shown to increase a nation's height," he says, "But our study also suggests that, on top of those things, natural selection may also have a role."

There is no concrete explanation for why taller Dutch people have more children. But Stulp has a few guesses.

"One reason might be that, for some reason, Dutch value height a little bit more in their partner," he says. "Height may [also] be associated to variables like health and income a little bit more strongly in the Netherlands or the United States."

He adds the data was controlled for ethnicity.

Asked if Dutch men, like himself, are simply more attractive mates, he demurred.

"Well, I have my own experiences, but it might have something to do with attractiveness indeed."