““Total average height decreased during these periods; however this was not the case if you consider only the richer people. This was primarily because they were able to pay for their nutrition even when the prices of food were going up.”
I think you are taking that out of context.
That wouldn’t square with Americans being their tallest in the 1700’s, and they sure weren’t eating better or had better healthcare back then.
Every single study says Americans are getting shorter, not that Europe is getting taller. Europe may be getting taller, but that doesn’t have any effect on us shrinking.
Well here’s an interesting post comparing average heights in 1912 and 2012.
If Americans are on average getting shorter, which I doubt, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it was related to immigration.
I live in a neighborhood where there are a lot of Central Americans, and many of them are really short.