I don't think the European explorers could be described as unhealthy--they certainly wouldn't have lasted long if they were. Their lifestyles of back-breaking l

I don't think the European explorers could be described as unhealthy--they certainly wouldn't have lasted long if they were. Their lifestyles of back-breaking labor and heavy drinking probably didn't help. Also, fun tidbit: they were short for economical reasons, 5'5" apparently being the optimal height for fur-trading. Anyone who was too tall would take up too much cargo space, and at that time fathers would consider it a bad thing for their sons to grow too tall.