Genes are very important at the individual level but these differences tend to cancel at the national level.

A rich diet does lead to earlier puberty but to my knowledge it does not student the adolescent growth spurt. Early pregnancy, before reaching adult height, does slow or stop growth.

People tend to shrink with age, especially after age 50 or so. It has to do with spaces between the joints amount of cartilage and posture. Bone length does not change.

Africans are not as tall as northern Europeans. But Manute Vol and other sports figures in basketball and football receive a lot of press coverage.

Young children from Guatemala who are adopted into the United States gain considerable height relative to the standards. So the height difference cannot be genetic.

I agree that zinc is one of the important micro-nutrients but people require a balanced blend of food for our biological engines.

The English were relatively short in the mid-nineteenth century and so their expeditions return with stories some exaggerated, not doubt about "giants" who lived in other parts of the world.

The choices one makes, not one's blood, determine one's destiny - John Steinbeck

The stronger that women grow, the more prestige, fame, and money is accorded to the display professions: They are held higher and higher above the heads of rising women, for them to emulate.

Live today, for tomorrow we die.

I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens

The compromise will always be more expensive than either of the suggestions it is compromising.

I'm not coming in . . . this is fun.

There is more talke then trouble.

This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers.

When did a smile ever get anyone into trouble?

What will support any relationship is clear, complete and conscious conversations when upsets or breakdowns occur.