Society tells us it’s better to be tall. Think NBA stars, supermodels and winning presidential candidates. Studies have even linked height to higher salaries. Weight, too, is an indicator of health-or lack thereof. Obese people are at greater risk for serious conditions like diabetes and heart disease-not to mention the social stigma associated with being larger than their peers. So what does it mean that Americans are now among the shortest and fattest people in the industrialized world? If a number of studies out in the last two months are any indication, the stagnating height and expanding girth in the United States are not only related, they may be a sign of a decline in the overall health of Americans-particularly children. Currently two thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and the trend shows no signs of letting up any time soon. A study by Johns Hopkins researchers this month found that by 2015, three quarters of adult Americans will be overweight or obese. America was the fattest industrialized country in an obesity ranking put out by World Health Organization earlier this year. As far as height goes, Americans are losing ground there, too. The June […]