Being petite has often been considered feminine, dainty or even sexy, but did you know that the decline in average height in some developing nations is actually a sign of poor overall nutrition? If you're naturally little, then rock on - but remember to feel for the plight of women who can't grow tall due to poor diet and bad sanitation.

A new study by Harvard researchers has shown that the average height of women in a few dozen countries in Africa and South America has either declined or stagnated over the last few years, indicating that women in these nations don't have reliable access to the food they need to grow strong and healthy. " Height is a reliable indicator of childhood nutrition, disease and poverty, " explains The New York Times.

 "Average heights have declined among women in 14 African countries, the study found, and stagnated in 21 more in Africa and South America. That suggests, the authors [of the study] said, that poor women born in the last two decades, especially in Africa, are worse off than their mothers or grandmothers born after World War II. "Of the countries studied, Senegal and Chad had the tallest women and Guatemala and Bangladesh had the shortest. So remember to remind your daughters to eat their veggies and drink their milk - and maybe give a little bit of help to the countries where young girls have trouble accessing these much-needed diet staples.