THe Dutch have surpassed us.

[Joanne Vergin]

THe Dutch are now the tallest in the world. THe average man in The Netherlands is 6'1''. The question is how does this relate to health/wealth?

according to ABC news.

[John Kennedy]

The only gems of wisdom I can relay concerning the Dutch came from bumper stickers. The area in which I live has a fair number of them (as can be quickly seen from there being several Reformed churches in town).

The first message encapsulates one of the most profound expressions of ethnic humility I've encountered: "If you aren't Dutch, you aren't much...". The second says: "You can always tell a Dutchman - but not very much."

Actually a lot of my friends are Dutch, my son attended a 'Dutch' elementary school (Christian Reformed affiliated), one of my best friends was the CEO of the Reformed Church in America (think Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller), and I wouldn't object to my daughter, if I had one, marrying one. We get together from time to time and compare ethnic humor about the Scots/Irish and the Dutch.
Don't know what, if anything, this has to do with height, but I have known some BIG Dutchmen.

[Hans Deventer]

THe Dutch are now the tallest in the world. THe average man in The Netherlands is 6'1''. The question is how does this relate to health/wealth?

according to ABC news.

I think there is a positive correlation.

Hans (6.13 feet tall, still looking for a program that turns centimetres into feet AND inches)

[Meghan Schoonover]

My husband is a Dutchman...ok, he has a Dutch last name, lol. He's 6'6". His grandpa, who was a little closer to actually being *from* the Netherlands, was 6'4" and his father is 6'5". They are unusually tall. The only "real" Dutchman I've met was quite tall, over 6'.

Ok, Hans...are you 187 cm? I went backwards and figured out how many inches, getting 73.6 inches. 6 foot is 72 inches and then you're 1.6 in. taller than that, so about 6'1 1/2". So, very slightly taller than the average Dutchman. :D

Funny, in Canada, where I grew up, we used metric for everything *but* height and weight. I have no idea how many kilos or cm I am.

[Hans Deventer]

Ok, Hans...are you 187 cm?

Yes.

I went backwards and figured out how many inches, getting 73.6 inches. 6 foot is 72 inches and then you're 1.6 in. taller than that, so about 6'1 1/2". So, very slightly taller than the average Dutchman. :D

True! I really don't stand out here. I'm quite average.

On the other hand, on Madeira, Hannie was average. And she's only 162 cm.

[Jim Franklin]

Joanne, to shed some light on cultural/physical factors which I have picked up over the years according to employment statistics and human resource managers, the taller one is the better chance to get the job opening than someone shorter. The reasoning is that the taller a person the more impressive the person is no matter what other advantages the shorter person may have. Witnessed, this day of our Lord June 20, 2007 by JF at 5' 5".

[Gina Stevenson]

Wayyyyyy-elllllllllll ("well" stretched way out ;)), didn't need "no" survey (gr. error on purpose ;)) to tell me this, living where I do. Just figured that out looking all around beginning as a kid.

The two tallest uncles I have, too, married into the family with Dutch last names ... one from the Netherlands. Wonder why that is ................. ??? Did they give any speculative reason(s) for it?

Oh, yeah, got a Dutch aunt, too, who married into the family ... she's the tallest gal in family, as tall as her hubby (ma's bro), so it's not just the guys, always.

[Bob Evans]

I live in the capitol coty of the Christian reformed Church in America. The dutch I know are tall in stature as well as Christian charactor. My area of west Michigan is the second most charatable area of the country primarily due to the influence of the dutch reofrmed church.

[Gina Stevenson]

Yup, Bob's in the City right next to where I am ... Wyoming & Grand Rapids run into each other, its sometimes being indistinguishable as to which city one is still in. ;) He's right.

Anyway, this is a Catholic neighborhood, basically (few blocks from a Catholic school), but going the other direction ... anyway, here were several Reformed, or Christian Reformed, kids we went to school with, as well. Even back in elementary there was sometimes banter re OSAS (once-saved-always-saved) ... or not. So, guess that's always been one of the "hot topic" differences. ;)

[Kenneth Smith]

Hans (6.13 feet tall, still looking for a program that turns centimetres into feet AND inches)

Hans the below may be of some help.

http://joshmadison.com/software/convert/

[Hans Deventer]

Hans the below may be of some help.

http://joshmadison.com/software/convert/

Can't find where it does the trick, Ken. It says that 187 cm is 6.135152 feet. I already have a program that does that. It still does not give me the length in feet AND inches (x feet + y inches), as the US system has it.

[Joanne Vergin]

Kenneth, welcome!

[Betty Bolerjack]

Can't find where it does the trick, Ken. It says that 187 cm is 6.135152 feet. I already have a program that does that. It still does not give me the length in feet AND inches (x feet + y inches), as the US system has it.

Here ya go, Hans! I just found this one: http://www.manuelsweb.com/ft_in_cm.htm

It says you are 6' 1.6" tall. So, the .135152 converts to just over 1 1/2 inches. Normally, we would round it to the nearest 1/2 inch, meaning you would be considered 6' 1 1/2" tall here.

[Hans Deventer]

Here ya go, Hans! I just found this one: http://www.manuelsweb.com/ft_in_cm.htm

It says you are 6' 1.6" tall. So, the .135152 converts to just over 1 1/2 inches. Normally, we would round it to the nearest 1/2 inch, meaning you would be considered 6' 1 1/2" tall here.

Yes! That's the one. I still wonder how on earth they teach kids that kind of arithmetic though. :basic03

[Betty Bolerjack]

Yes! That's the one. I still wonder how on earth they teach kids that kind of arithmetic though. :basic03

Seems normal to us! :basic02 At least, it did when I was growing up. It was when they started trying to teach us metric and how to make the conversion that it got confusing! As long as I don't have to deal with metric, I'm fine. :basic05

[Billy Cox]

Wyoming & Grand Rapids

You do mean 'Wisconsin', right? Otherwise urban sprawl in Grand Rapids has really gotten out of hand.

[Gina Stevenson]

You do mean 'Wisconsin', right? Otherwise urban sprawl in Grand Rapids has really gotten out of hand.

Yepper! Urban spraaawwwlll has gone way out West ... Cheyenne, in particular ... which reminds me ... years ago someone asked me where I was from [in a small town over by Lake Michigan], and I said, "Wyoming." Well, they'd apparently not heard of the one by Grand Rapids by that name.

They go, "Way out there!?" "Yup!" "Whereabouts?" "Cheyenne." [I was on a roll ... for some odd reason, it just seemed a time to have a bit of fun.] Then they asked me what kind of Indian I was, rather than "if" I were. So, I obliged ... they wanted to know "what kind?" so I told them. Probably due to the song that made a particular tribe's name popular long ago, I said, "Cherokee." After a bit more banter, I 'fessed up ... but that wasn't the first time someone had asked, with my dark hair, easily tanned complexion, what kind of Indian I was---or "if ...."

Now, I've been out of the sun too long ... moderation isn't bad, ya know! My picture now [one here] doesn't appear "Indian" ... at least to me ... maybe b/c I know I'm not. ;)

[Jim Franklin]

If they have "surpassed us" then I guess I had better give up the expression handed down by my father "if that don't beat the Dutch." Hans, you are a winner.

[Hans Deventer]

If they have "surpassed us" then I guess I had better give up the expression handed down by my father "if that don't beat the Dutch." Hans, you are a winner.

And I did nothing! :basic05

[Jim Franklin]

Yes, you did for you had the foresight to be born Dutch.

[Hans Deventer]

Yes, you did for you had the foresight to be born Dutch.

That foresight must have been lost through time, Jim, I don't recall it! :basic03