Dutch still taller, but they’re leveling off

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The Dutch, thought to be the world’s tallest people, appear to have stopped growing, the national statistics agency said Monday.

Growth rates for men and women have increased scarcely or not at all since 2001, the Central Bureau for Statistics said in a new study.

The height of the average Dutch male increased by more than an inch from the start of the 1980s, to just under 5 feet, 11 inches in 2000.

Since 2001, heights have been unchanged at slightly above 5, feet 11 inches, and women gained a fraction of an inch to around 5, feet 6 inches, the agency said.

Study author Frans Frenken said he had no explanation for the slowdown, but speculated that the Dutch may be reaching a natural peak.

“Previous gains are usually attributed to improvements in nutrition and health care,” he said. “If they’ve reached their optimum level then there’s not much more you can do.”