The Who rocker Roger Daltrey is convinced he knows the reason for his small stature - he blames World War Ii food rationing for his stunted growth.

The diminutive singer stands at just five feet five inches (1.68 metres) and is known as one of the tiniest frontmen in rock, but he was born in 1944 and blames his paltry diet during the war years for his height.

Daltrey tells Q magazine, "I wish I'd... (Robert Plant's) legs and his height... Robert grew up when there was food in the parlour. I was born in 1944, and '45 was the worst year of the war for food - even the bread was half chalk. Look at anyone born in '44 in the working class. We're all short."