Abstract
Environmental conditions leave an imprint in the human body. The physical development of children is enhanced by a healthy environment, including high-quality nutrition in sufficient quantities. Deprivation, in contrast, stunts body growth. As a consequence, children suffering from chronic malnutrition fall short of their genetic growth potential and, on average, become shorter adults. This will reflect in a population’s mean height. Insofar as nutrition and health are correlated with income, heights should be correlated with income. Numerous articles found richer individuals on average taller than the poor. One would expect to find the same relationship at country level.