Poor diets for school-age children may contribute to an average height gap of 20cm (7.9in) between the tallest and shortest nations, an analysis suggests.
It reports that in 2019 the tallest 19-year-old boys lived in the Netherlands (183.8cm or 6ft) and the shortest lived in Timor Leste (160.1cm or 5ft 3in).
Meanwhile the UK's global height ranking fell, with 19-year-old boys being 39th tallest in 2019 (1.78m or 5ft 10in) from 28th tallest in 1985.
Researchers say tracking changes in the height and weight of children across the world and over time is important because they can reflect the quality of nutrition available, and how healthy environments are for young people.
The team analysed data from more than 65 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years from more than 2000 studies between 1985 and 2019.
They found that in 2019, on average, children and teenagers in north-western and central Europe (eg those in the Netherlands and Montenegro) were the tallest in the world.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-olds who were on average the shortest lived in South and South-East Asia, Latin America and East Africa.
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