The Moscow Times reports: Russians aren't quite measuring up. The average Russian is 1.5 centimeters shorter today than just a decade ago, a senior health expert announced on Tuesday at a conference in Moscow. "Today, Russia is becoming one of the shortest nations," said Alexander Baranov, senior specialist with the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Interfax reported. In addition to being shorter, teenagers have grown weaker and more sickly, Baranov said. Boys have 18 percent less muscle mass than 10 years ago, while girls have lost 21 percent of their muscle mass. The lung capacity of both boys and girls has shrunk by about 20 percent, and up to 20 percent of all children are underweight, Baranov said.

So THAT explains it. We THOUGHT Putin looked rather short . . .