[quote]Historical records from developed countries indicate that height and weight increased progressively, particularly during the 19th century. During the 20th century, as populations from better-off countries began to approach their genetic potential for longitudinal growth, they began to gain proportionally more weight than height, with the resulting increase in average BMI. By the year 2000, the human race reached a sort of historical landmark, when for the first time in human evolution the number of adults with excess weight surpassed the number of those who were underweight.[/quote]