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Black Women in the U.S. Appear to be Shrinking, Study Finds

chicagotribune.com — In an age when the adult populations of most industrialized nations have grown significantly taller, the average height of black women in the U.S. has been receding, beginning with those born in the late 1960s.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 27, 2008

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  • thegoodzone2, on 12/27/2008, -8/+152Well, they may be getting shorter, but where I live, they're sure not getting any thinner.
  • PumpItUp, on 12/26/2008, -17/+122As long as their asses aren't shrinking, it's all good.
  • DiggItalia, on 12/27/2008, -1/+84"Almost 80 percent of black females are overweight or obese, compared with 62 percent of the total female population, according to the CDC."
    80%? seriously?
  • borez, on 12/27/2008, -6/+72Nah... they're just expanding sideways.
  • robdiggity, on 12/27/2008, -5/+69"Black Women in the U.S. Appear to be Shrinking, Study Finds"

    Tell that to Oprah.
  • Ainsleh, on 12/27/2008, -2/+54Once you go black, you never grow back?
  • creaturecool, on 12/27/2008, -1/+40I read that too, and I was like "whattt?" That's really bad, but not only that, if you're a female and you're not overweight, you are the minority in the US. WTF???
  • 7Wiseguy, on 12/27/2008, -2/+35That's because the man is pushing them down!

    /s
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -3/+34I believe it. My mom is like 5' 3" and all the women in her family are all about that or shorter. And we're all black.
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -2/+32Of course... The hip-hop artists have been warning us all along. "Shawty"
  • jturbo, on 12/27/2008, -1/+31Oprah may be Black but her lifestyle is nowhere near the average black woman.
  • GoneGreen, on 12/27/2008, -2/+31Hey Shortie!
  • waspbr, on 12/27/2008, -0/+28or the average human being
  • arizonabay, on 12/27/2008, -3/+29I like my women like I like coffee; finely ground and dissolved in water.
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -1/+24As well as the IQ of the nation as well...
  • jason4188, on 12/27/2008, -1/+23Yeah she could eat the average black woman and then recommend us a good read.
  • jason4188, on 12/27/2008, -4/+23You must not have seen a lot of black women here lately. ***** BMI and science those bitches are fat.
  • Steve8867, on 12/27/2008, -1/+20YEAH!
    They're getting shorter AND fatter !
  • Schrum, on 12/27/2008, -6/+25Who are you calling pal, buddy?
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -5/+23You're all *****.
  • DickyT83, on 12/27/2008, -5/+22Who you calling friend, pal?
  • ieee, on 12/27/2008, -4/+21The same is true for all Americans. Most of us are overweight or obese.
  • galanz, on 12/27/2008, -1/+16I'd say it's a fair bet that the two are related. Low nutrition high calories foods that don't provide nourishment but increase fat. I remember reading somewhere that a lot of obese people are actually malnourished.
  • JustinPM, on 12/27/2008, -4/+19Who are you calling buddy, guy!?
  • SteveLRowe, on 12/27/2008, -2/+17It's like men don't go bald the hair just gets lower. Comming out of ears, noses and on backs. Mabye black women are just growing out instead of up. I've seen plenty of women lately that would be taller laying down.
  • arizonabay, on 12/27/2008, -1/+15It's your birthday
  • ICLW, on 12/27/2008, -2/+15"I like my women like I like coffee" Ground up and in the freezer.

    There, fixed that for ya ;)
  • hfactor, on 12/27/2008, -2/+15Intuition.
  • zodieman, on 12/27/2008, -2/+15They're only shrinking in one direction...
  • dfross, on 12/27/2008, -3/+1536-24-36... only if she's 5'3. Baby Got Back!

    (I just woke up and am so incoherent I first typed that as 26-24-236... o.O)
  • Jambi, on 12/27/2008, -4/+16Your evil plan will never come to fruition, Mr. Cheney!
  • ieee, on 12/27/2008, -0/+12@jason4188jason4188

    You are both right. The BMI needs work as a standard, but too many people use that fact as a dodge for not dealing with being overweight.

  • treecha02, on 12/27/2008, -0/+12According to the article, "high caloric intake from an unhealthy diet fuels an early growth spurt" which is how they explain the rate at which African American children grow compared to their white counterparts, who eventually catch up with them. So maybe your kids are growing so fast because of the high caloric intake of the bad food you feed them.
  • blackinthmiddle, on 12/27/2008, -0/+12FTA:

    "Pediatric growth experts offer one possible explanation. High caloric intake from an unhealthy diet fuels an early growth spurt among black children, plus it speeds the onset of puberty, especially for black girls, who now begin menstruating 81/2 months ahead of white girls. This early onset of puberty reduces the duration of the critical pre-adolescent growth spurt, resulting in a lower adult height."

    The answer is pretty obvious.
  • LaughingMan89, on 12/27/2008, -0/+12They meant vertically.
  • iansh, on 12/27/2008, -0/+11$3000 dollar?
  • blackinthmiddle, on 12/27/2008, -2/+12blackjack75 & jason4188, you're both right. Yes, BMI doesn't take muscle mass into account. I'm 6'0" and usually hover between 210 and 225 lbs. I bench nearly 300 lbs, squat close to 400 and work out pretty regularly. I have a body fat level of about 12%. According to BMI, I'm close to obese or obese because I should, even if I were a large framed man, weigh no more than 184 lbs. BMI clearly doesn't tell the full story.

    On the other hand, black women simply have not been taking care of themselves and this is coming from a black man. My wife and I went to Sesame Place a few years ago and we were stunned by the amount of fat black women on the arms of muscular black men. There were a ton (pardon the pun) of fat white women as well, but the black women were truly huge.
  • chrisduser, on 12/27/2008, -2/+12I almost spit coffee all over my $3000 dollar suit. Come on!
  • graeh, on 12/27/2008, -0/+10all other black women's ass particles share a quantum entanglement with Oprah's - the changes to their asses are reflected conversely by hers.
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -1/+11My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun.
  • masisso, on 12/27/2008, -3/+13Just blame it on the White Man
  • willwillywilson, on 12/27/2008, -5/+15Good. I've seen way to many fat black women. (this is not a racist post. it's an anti-fat post. i am fat too.)
  • Anim8tor, on 12/27/2008, -5/+15Are you f---ing kidding me?
  • TheGuruStud, on 12/27/2008, -1/+11Which is completely incorrect. They're not from Africa. They're from the US.
  • korvan504521, on 12/27/2008, -1/+10why would you be looking for a fat asian woman?
  • MonTheBuds, on 12/27/2008, -2/+11At least he said african american.
  • Rookbird, on 12/27/2008, -0/+9It's possible he may have meant the exact opposite.
  • Modiga, on 12/27/2008, -3/+12Who are you calling *****, mate?
  • inactive, on 12/27/2008, -0/+9I feel that same way about trying to find a fat Asian woman. Occasionally you see one, but very rarely.
  • ieee, on 12/27/2008, -2/+10Lets not focus on African American women. Go to any Walmart in a rural area where everyone drives and you will not have to look hard to see gigantic people of a variety of colors. Most Americans are fat or obese. They don't get enough exercise either out of laziness or the opportunities aren't convenient. They also live off of high calorie, low nutrition food.

    High calorie, low nutrition food is making all American's shorter and fatter. It has the energy to make accumulating fat possible, but not the nutrition to make children grow more.

    Since the hight calorie low nutrition crap is cheap that is why you see poor people who are ALSO fat and obese
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