The world’s tallest populace is shrinking, and scientists want to know why

Majid Ezzati, an expert in global environmental health at Imperial College in London, said it would take a few more years of data to confirm whether the Dutch are experiencing a new trend. If they are, he said, it will most likely come down to nutrition. He told the Guardian newspaper that a Dutch school milk program was thought to be one reason the population had grown so tall in recent decades. In recent years, though, demand for fast-food has boomed.