Short people, studies have shown, are more likely to
Now, researchers report that short people, at least in the past, are also more likely to die at a younger age than their taller peers.
The study found that short bones have correlated with short life for more than 1,000 years. The investigators analyzed 490 sets of adult skeletal remains from an archaeological site in northeastern England, dating from the 9th century to about 1850.
About 55% of men and 73% of women died before the age of 45, and 39% of men and 56% of women died before age 30. The risk of death before age 30 declined as bone length increased.
This analysis provides evidence from an archaeological sample that long bone length is associated with age at death -- those with smaller bones tend to die younger.
While it is not clear why short stature might be linked to earlier death, the researchers point out that height is an indicator of childhood nutrition, which may have long-lasting effects on health.
Mechanisms for height-mortality associations in the past may differ from those today, for example, short stature may have increased the risk of death in childbirth and this may account for the higher risk of premature mortality in women.
Short bones, it would appear, have always been a marker of a short life.
However Thomas Samaras says longevity is more likely in short people.
Samaras is the author of "The Truth About Your Height" and the director of the San Diego-based Reventropy Associates, a research organization that studies height, health, resource consumption and performance.
He notes that a 40-year epidemiological study of more than 10,000 Scottish men and women, which was published last year in the journal Public Health, found that "no substantial or statistically significant associations were seen between height and all-cause or all-cancer mortality in either sex."
He adds that more than 20 studies either found no relation between greater height and longevity, or found a link between taller people and greater mortality rates.
"The reasons for conflicting findings are related to the fact that height is not the only factor related to the health and longevity picture," Samaras says. Socioeconomic status, education level, smoking, diet, exercise and quality of medical care are some of the other factors, he says.
The author's findings did not account for socioeconomic status," Samaras says. "Taller people tend to be more often of higher socioeconomic classes, and this can make a big difference in mortality."
Samaras says that some studies have found that people in lower socioeconomic groups have four times the death rate of those in the richest class. "This could certainly incorrectly indicate that taller people are healthier when in fact they are healthier because they come from higher socioeconomic classes."
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2001; 55:505-507
No, don't go and get all upset if you are not very tall. This bit of evidence was compiled from people who have long ago died. It is certainly possible that our modern technology has compensated for whatever contributed to this observation.
I did find it fascinating though that such a huge percentage of people did not make it out of middle age.
About 55% of men and 73% of women died before the age of 45, and 39% of men and 56% of women died before age 30.
Those are absolutely amazing numbers and most of us have benefited dramatically from the advances of hygiene, nutrition, science and technology, as these numbers have improved quite dramatically.