Not saying anybody is big-headed, but.....

I work in a castle and we have exhibitions including the use of costumes, dresses and uniforms. These are from the early to late 1800s. The women's dresses are miniscule...size 10 the largest and for a middle aged women. The male uniforms would fit the average 13 year old...5ft 3 seemed to be an average height for men under 5ft for women and the shoes are miniscule. We are certainly taller, larger and have much bigger feet and hands.

Desert Island Discs today. The interviewee told a story about a great biology teacher. He said as a 16 year old, over confident young man he informed his teacher that the male skull was ten percent larger than a female. The female biology teacher quick as a whip retorted 'that would be to house the male ego'. Maybe not entirely in tune with the thread...but it was the comment about the army tin hats not fitting the larger heads of today.

First World War minimum height for men was 5ft 2in. Poor diet amongst ordinary folk meant they didn’t grow so much.

10 to 20 minutes of sun on arms and legs during summer months is considered sufficient, then use sunscreen. We can make enough vitamin D to help see us through the winter.

Skin damage was probably caused when we were children in the days when we played outside without using any sunscreen at all and this could possibly cause skin cancer in late life in some instances.

lemongrove

I should have said 19th century!!

Whitewavemark2
I said rickets was starting to make a come back.
Hence the new advice to let children have 10 - 20 minutes of sun on their skin before applying sunscreen.
Hence the advice by NICE to GPs to prescribe Vitamin D to children.

www.gponline.com/gps-urged-increase-vitamin-d-supplement-prescribing/nutrition/modular-supplements/article/1293910
www.nhs.uk/conditions/rickets-and-osteomalacia
www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/encyclopaedia/r/article/rickets
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/8128781/Middle-class-children-suffering-rickets.html
www.theguardian.com/society/2010/jan/22/sharp-rise-vitamin-a-deficiency
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20710028

If you need more help, please let me know.
I'll try to remain on alert and not go out.

Whitewavemark2
bijou perhaps you can help me only callistemon doesn’t seem sure even though she asserted that sun screen is causing rickets.

You've contradicted yourself there:
If I asserted something it does not mean that I am not sure!

Assert means to state a fact

Well yes, Saetana, and that is exactly what they did, as was stated in the OP: “They had to scan the originals, then scale them up so when they sat on people’s heads they looked correct.”

I understand the issue, but surely they could make replica helmets scaled up to fit the modern man?

My skin tone is olive to dark. I lived for many years in Singapore when I was a child/teenager and never ever did we wear sun screen, we even took salt tablets every day. How times have changed.

I don't sunbathe and when in SE I tend to be inside having a sleep when the from about 1.30 until 4.00, as do most of the locals and I have reached the age of 72 without a problem from the sun.\\

I think rickets is on the increase mainly due to poverty as well as sunscreens.

Bathsheba I agree with you. Like you I have seen articles reporting increases in rickets, in areas where sunscreen use is high.

I do not sun bathe and haven't since childhood, although I do a lot of gardening walking and I only use sun screen when sightseeing in very hot sunny conditions, which means about 1 day a year.

I think that unless there is evidence produced to the contrary, we can safely say that sun screen use is NOT a contributory factor in rickets.

I don't believe we can safely say that. I have found plenty of online articles suggesting that the overuse of high factor sunscreen is indeed a contributory factor, combined with the trend for children to spend less time outdoors in the sun than ever before.

here's one of many articles

I was told that it was as a result of exposing my skin to the sun as a child. We used to spend every second we could outdoors and never ever wore sun screen of any sort. I am high risk though blond/red with freckles. Well now grey now of course.

whitewavemark2. Vitamin D is derived from sunlight but it is safe to expose the skin to a short time when the sun is not strong without sunscreen. I am not sure where I got this information. Being housebound I watch a lot of TV and gain a lot of knowledge.
Ironically my daughter in law hates the sun and is always covered up wearing a scarf all the time, developed a melanoma on her neck.
I love the outdoors, gardening, camping, hiking but have never used sunscreen. Luck of the draw?

My grandfather, who was born into poverty in Northern Ireland was 5ft 8inches when he joined the army in 1900.

I remember him as a tall man. His final height was over 6ft. the result, I am convinced of the three good meals a day he got once he joined the army.

As 4ALLWEKNOW said there are exceptions. My grandfather was one of 14 children. They were not well off but all the boys were strapping 6' + although some of their sisters were quite small.

I can quite believe this. It wouldn't apply to everyone but, in general, people are taller and bigger these days.

The American servicemen, during WW2, were often taller than the British servicemen. I have heard this from various sources.

I take vitamin D every morning.

Whitewave, I was found to be lacking fit D, so much so that I was losing muscle and falling over. I spent 3 to 4 months every winter in SE Asia and the time at home I was mostly outside. My Dr said it due to using sunscreen when in SE Asia but I pointed out that I rarely used it, may just a bit on my face. It was in fact due to my liver problem .

My father spent part of his childhood in the centre ofBristol, his gran had a shop on Christmas Steps. He always said he was surprised he never died of malnutrition and his saving was joining the RAF as soon as he could.

leaving junior school I was the shortest in height, and had the longest feet; like little titch, anyone, music-hall artiste very short used to wear long ski=like shoes and stand on points. I didn't do any tricks though.
teacher told me off once for wearing plimsolls that were too long. why was I wearing them...etc demanding, dictatorial, unreasonable. I said because I needed them. to which she contemptuously ridiculed and forcefully pressed the toe end of the shoes and was stunned to find my toes inhabiting there.
no apology of course. I was also the previous year roundly slated for not copying down her nature notes and straining to read from another pupil's desk what had been written. it didn't help that she had german script and a blackboard that rolled away like a roller towel.
I couldn't see the board well enough to write quickly enough. I told her this, politely. she scornfully said of course you can see the board, I've put you in the front row.
it then took me many months to get glasses as according to the nhs I didn't exist, despite being aged 9, and having spent 14 weeks as an in-patient that summer.
I could see alright before that confinement. I think its from being inside so long, not able to stretch eyes, change focus as normal, with in and outside life.
I hated that school. I hated that confinement more. not for the illness but the oppressive behaviour of those exerting power over us. still have nightmares, quite vivid, like of having to use loo in middle of concourse waterloo station, with no enclosure, or not use any. sorry. strugglinggggggggggggggg

My grandfather must have been the exception He served in the Boer War, WW1. He was 6' tall, muscular but never fat even in his old age. Died aged 86. His background was very poor, joining the army a way out of it.

I have a pair of sunglasses that the troops wore in the Boer War and they are so narrow that it hard to fit them on a modern face.

In Australia, parents are now advised to get their children outside for a short while before 10.00 am with no sunscreen to guard against rickets. A very short amount of time is enough. This is because they have to wear 50+ sunscreen for the rest of the time.

Apparently if you put mushrooms in direct sunlight outdoors, they make vitamin D.

I also heard that parents were being encouraged to give their children time in the sun in the UK, to guard against rickets but I could be wrong on that.

The NHS website has an article about the increase in rickets in the UK, although small. “Studies have shown that a significant number of people have low vitamin D”. This applies especially to those with darker skins

I’ve been treated for skin cancer myself. Finished the treatment about a month ago

whitewave Skin cancer can indeed kill. The Bodach has had a melanoma removed but his dementia means he is refusing to go to follow up appointments, as a scan has shown spread.
He has deteriorated very quickly, and is now quite frail. Please get anything suspicious checked out.

( Sorry if I’ve kind of strayed from the topic)