Are 20th-century recommendations for growth and height correct? A review

The belief that increased height is a healthful by-product of our Western lifestyle and nutrition is widely held.1–4 This belief is based on the large increase in life expectancy over the past 150 years. However, during the 20th century the increase in longevity has paralleled an explosive growth in chronic diseases. The fact that people are living longer is the most obvious explanation for this trend. However, India, as well as other countries, has experienced an epidemic of coronary heart disease (CHD) and type 2 diabetes among the young and middle-aged segments of the population. In addition, before the 1970s, over 65% of the world’s elderly people lived in developing countries8 when cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes were rare. The elderly in these countries died from essentially the same causes as young people, for example malnutrition, trauma, infections and lack of medical care.