I couldn't help thinking that the beds, the tiny little chairs, even the low ceilings and doorways would have been very uncomfortable for me if I had to stay there for very long. And it's been happening for a pretty long time. In fact, the average height of people in America has increased about 4 inches over the past 150 years. We do know that this increase has only occurred recently. Examination of skeletons tell us that people in the 1800's were no taller than stone age men.
Most scientists believe that improvement in childhood nutrition to be the cause.
Prior to the 1800's, finding food was a problem and children didn't have the necessary nutrients to grow to their full potential. But that's changed as our diets have improved. There are limitations to how big the human body can get. At some point, bones will begin to crack and health problems will occur. In fact, scientists estimate that we are now at the upper level of how tall people can get.