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Comment by phpnode | Hacker News Reader

Possibly diet. Obviously it's anecdotal but all of the Dutch people I know consume far more dairy products than those from the UK.

Edit: Turns out the Dutch are the third biggest consumers of milk per capita in the world[0], looking at the list of "tallest" countries on wikipedia[1], there seems to be a great deal of overlap at the top of the two lists. I wonder if a secondary factor could also be related to vitamin D exposure, but I couldn't find a data source for that.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_milk_cons...

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Average_height_around...

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Over 2,000 years ago Julius Caesar described the people that lived where The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany are today.

> They do not live much on corn, but subsist for the most part on milk and flesh, and are much [engaged] in hunting; which circumstance must, by the nature of their food, and by their daily exercise and the freedom of their life (for having from boyhood been accustomed to no employment, or discipline, they do nothing at all contrary to their inclination), both promote their strength and render them men of vast stature of body.

http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.4.4.html

...for having from boyhood been accustomed to no employment, or discipline, they do nothing at all contrary to their inclination...

Now we see why the state had to subjugate them! b^)

Call me stupid but I thought corn was native to the Americas. I guess something is getting lost in translation.

"Corn" can refer to cereal crops in general.

'Corn' means the main cereal plant in a region.

Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize

There is discussion about the truthfulness of "de bello Gallico". Some historians even call it propaganda (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/242303564_Julius_Cae...). He likely will have exaggerated the strengths of his enemies.

It was unquestionably propaganda, Caesar paints himself in the best possible light most of the time, but there is no one who questions the overall historical accuracy. Most of Caesar's military and political life is confirmed by many other sources and pieces of evidence.

But the dutch don't eat so much. What about people of dutch descend living elsewhere?

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