It is thought that this is down to improved diet and environmental conditions, though it does not help with the question of whether legs have grown longer only in the last 20 years or whether & how much they have contributed to the much longer term increase in average height of people in this country.
The legs are usually the least developed part of a newborns visible anatomy – I am always reminded of a tadpole - but I am wondering if anyone has done research into whether legs these days are more developed at this stage too.
They are certainly well developed at an early age.
One day recently while the ice was still thick on the pavements there was a young girl on the bus with grandma. Probably just either side of her third birthday, I thought. She was attracting attention - she was at that unselfconsciously chatty stage, her voice that distinctive combination of high pitch, sing-song & drone.
Then she stood up. Good heavens, she must be more like 5 or even 6.
I paid her even more attention. When she decided to stand up on the seat it was clear that her legs were indeed very long – probably longer than the rest of her - & well formed. But she was wearing a daytime nappy, & she was on the reins. When she sat down she went back to being 3 again.
It makes me wonder if the leg development might be happening even before birth.
Mothers too are better nourished these days, but it also reawakens another question – has any research been done into children born to mothers who spent a long period on The Pill before they ever got pregnant? Could the change in regulation of the mothers hormone cycle be producing subtle changes in the way the foetus develops, not necessarily for the worse? I have vague memories of being startled the first time I heard that vitamin D is technically a steroid hormone.
And while being confined to a buggy for so much longer than used to be the case may be contributing to the obesity epidemic, it does not seem to be doing legs any harm.
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