It’s high time that we had a little potty talk in this newspaper.

Has anyone noticed that the height of toilets is rising. Comfort toilets, 3 inches taller than the “standard,” were designed help older people get on and off the commode with less difficulty. But my unscientific sampling of various toilets reveals that comfort height is becoming the norm.

I think it just may be hurting us.

We have evolved from quickly squatting under a tree or bush to resting our bottoms on a warm, pleasing comfort seat while reading the middle third of, say, “War and Peace,” the latest medical journal or People magazine. And toilets are where people, apparently, are getting a good amount of texting done. I once made a phone call while on the toilet, but accidentally pressed “FaceTime” instead of the regular dial button and realized only too late that I was sharing too much.

A lot of buzz has been given to ergonomic toilets that imitate a squat and change the angle of the colon. Not much scientific proof, but I’d bet a colorectal surgeon might think it sensible.

But what about back pain? Back pain is almost nonexistent in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, presumably because they stand straighter and have better posture which develops their core muscle strength. By contrast (the theory goes) our bad posture and weak core muscles result in bad backs. They stand tall, we slouch.

No back pain, but in Burkina Faso there is more death from dysentery. A UNICEF website states that some 10 million people in Burkina Faso “do not have access to adequate toilets.” A project started in 2010 is bringing toilets to the people of Burkina Faso. Running water and sewage disposal have clear public health benefit, but is the same true of the toilet seat?

Squatting is hard for us Americans to do. But people who don’t rest their weight on a porcelain bowl every day had to develop those core muscles and possibly develop a straighter back, a better posture and, perhaps, less back pain. I’ve seen people from developing nations relaxing among friends by squatting on their haunches on a New York City sidewalk, sipping tea, chatting and resting comfortably. I tried to squat like them, and quickly found that my legs and knees and whole body started to shake and hurt.

Now, I’m not about to dig a hole in my front lawn so people can drive by and wave to me while I’m squatting over it as I read about Beyonce sending Jay Z to the dog-house, but I do think that as we try to improve public health in places like Burkina Faso, we might also learn about what they do better than us — and that might start with number two.