It has been observed that “if we compare the heights and weights of African children with those of their age mates in Europe and America, we find that the vast majority of African children are well below the expected norm for their ages.” This observer we have just quoted, as others, had no difficulty in explaining the variance in heights, for studies have made it clear that the reason a people fail to achieve their genetic potential for height is generally a function of malnutrition, and sub-Saharan children are, as a rule, considerably less well nourished than European or North American counterparts.

Thanks to a number of recent examinations of slave height data, we can discern similar evidence of West African malnutrition for the early nineteenth century. These ongoing studies have revealed that slaves born in the West Indies (Creoles) were significantly taller (one to three inches) than counterparts born in Africa. Because the phenomenon of a rapid increase in the height of a people (such as second- and third-generation Japanese and Chinese in the United States) is linked tightly to nutrition, the conclusion seems inescapable that even the miserable diet of slaves in the Americas was superior to (or at least more protein laden than) that of their African cousins.