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Comment by dr_dshiv | Hacker News Reader

My 15 year old son is now taller than I am and most of his nutrition is not food. It’s horrid. I suspect this is why Dutch people are so tall. Mostly cheap processed food and hormones in the milk. Ymmv

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The cognitive dissonance here is striking. A growing man needs a shit ton of calories to grow to their full potential. You might as well fill your caloric needs with "junk" food otherwise you will need to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing and eating "natural" food at a higher cost for the exact same effect.

>otherwise you will need to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing and eating "natural" food at a higher cost for the exact same effect.

This is a myth, healthy whole foods are way cheaper than any ready-made “meal” and that is not even taking in account the future savings in healthcare!

...if you don't take into account the labor of preparation. Then they are surely more expensive than a bag of doritos.

That is true

I eat well.

I spend a lot of time cooking

That’s a good point. I believe people need to reconcile with the rituals of food like cooking and sharing the table with loved ones.

> The cognitive dissonance here is striking

Agreed!

The SAD diet despite its critcism is perfect for spurring growth, as it's calorie-dense, balanced, and very palatable. It's hard to come up with a better diet if the goal is to produce big people or athletes. The problem is when adults continue to eat it, long past the growth phase, and get obese as a result.

>It's hard to come up with a better diet if the goal is to produce big people or athletes.

Submitting children to the standard american diet (or mostly western diet as sadly it is not relegated just to the USA anymore) should be considered child abuse, by feeding them high calorie, high cholesterol, high protein, high sugar meals you’re condemning them to a certain disease-ridden future.

Child self-abuse -- It's what the kids demand to eat!

Would you prefer that he graze natural plants 20 hrs/day? He's the premium calorie consumer of all humans: a pubescent male. Are Dutch people statistically taller than Germans? Do they eat more junk food? Does your milk have more hormones? Are Dutch taller today than previous generations? Have you accounted for all the other variables.

You can't throw out shit like this and then tack on "ymmv" as a disclaimer.

> Would you prefer that he graze natural plants 20 hrs/day?

No, it would interfere with his Vibecoding

> Are Dutch people statistically taller than Germans?

Yes. 183 vs 179cm

> Do they eat more junk food?

Arguably. Few would argue that the food quality is better in the Netherlands than Germany.

> Does your milk have more hormones?

Well, there are hormones in milk, and the Dutch drink a lot of it. 25% more than Germans.

> Are Dutch taller today than previous generations?

Yes. But a centimeter shorter than those born in the 1980s, when it was still legal to pump cows up with hormones.

>You can't throw out shit like this and then tack on "ymmv" as a disclaimer.

I can’t exactly advocate for his diet — nor disclaim it. It’s confusing for me!

Govt statistics linked here, O3: https://chatgpt.com/share/6838c51d-c4a4-8007-97e7-431006f495...

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