A Cheesy Theory, Debunked: Dutch Height Isn’t About Dairy

The internet loves the “Dutch = dairy = tallest people” story. Even the BBC once framed the Netherlands as “a nation of tall cheese-eaters,” musing about whether milk and cheese helped push the Dutch to the top of the height charts - while also noting other contenders like genetics, better medical care, and even sexual selection favoring taller men.

I combined cohort-level height data with per-capita calorie/macronutrient supply (ages 0–18), then tested nutrition alone vs. nutrition + a country-mapped height polygenic score (PGS).