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NHANES data show non-Hispanic White men are taller than Black men.

The Claim

In the United States, the average adult height of Black people is higher than the average adult height of non-Hispanic White people.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Nationally representative CDC data do not support this comparison. Recent NHANES estimates show non-Hispanic White men are taller on average than Black men, while Black women are only negligibly taller than non-Hispanic White women; taken together, that does not yield a higher overall adult average for Black people.

Caveats

  • The claim conflates a tiny female-only difference with the overall adult population.
  • The strongest evidence is measured CDC/NHANES data, not social-media graphics, forums, or unsourced summaries.
  • A 0.1 cm difference is trivial and can fall within ordinary measurement or reporting variation.

The Receipts

  1. National Health Statistics Reports, Number 122: Mean Height Among U.S. Adults, 1999–2016

    CDC / National Center for Health Statistics

  2. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 3, Number 46

    CDC / National Center for Health Statistics

  3. Weight and Height of Adults 18-74 Years of Age, United States, 1971-74

    CDC National Center for Health Statistics

  4. Sex and Ethnic Differences in Validity of Self-reported Adult Height and Weight: A Comparison of NHANES and BRFSS

    PubMed Central

  5. About the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    CDC / National Center for Health Statistics

  6. The association of adolescent socioeconomic position and adult height: a study of racial and ethnic groups in the United States

    National Institutes of Health / PMC

  7. Measuring Racial Differences in Obesity Risk Factors in Non-Hispanic White and Black Men in the United States

    American Journal of Health Promotion (SAGE Journals)

  8. Trends in adult height in the United States: 1880–2002

    International Journal of Epidemiology (Oxford University Press)

  9. The decline in the physical stature of the U.S. population parallels the rise of obesity

    Economics and Human Biology (Elsevier)

  10. Recent Trends in Height by Race/Ethnicity, and Birth Cohort, in the U.S.

    NBER

+ 12 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

United States

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