It's true that Americans of European ancestry are not growing taller at the same rate as their European cohorts. This could be partially due to childhood obesi

It's true that Americans of European ancestry are not growing taller at the same rate as their European cohorts. This could be partially due to childhood obesity. A diet rich in sugars leads to early puberty and counter-intuitively, decrease in overall height. "Precocious puberty leads to accelerated growth, accelerated bone maturation and ultimately reduced stature." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15073143 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15073143