Short people live longer than tall people: the reasons for this will surprise you

It is widely believed, and supported by science, that women live longer than men. Now they are talking about the role that a person's height plays in the duration of his life. There is an opinion that short people live longer than tall people. Read more about this hypothesis told the publication CNBC.

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The discussion is gaining momentum on social networks, where it is quite difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.

Two experienced experts in the field of longevity put everything on the shelves. These are Jean-Marie Robin, an expert demographer who studies the relationship between health and longevity, and David Sinclair, co-director of the Center for Biological Research on Aging at Harvard Medical School.

Here are their theories about why shorter people can live longer than tall people.

Short height used to hurt longevity, but now the pendulum has swung the other way.

Years ago, "people were much shorter than they are today" because they often ate poorly during their first year of life, Robin says.

“They couldn’t develop normally and couldn’t fight infectious diseases,” he explains. “Historically, at the population level, we have associated low growth with poor development during the first year of life and with high mortality.”

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But at present, people who are shorter, “while getting the best possible in terms of wealth and education, live longer than tall people.”

"When you're taller, you need more cell replication to fill your body, and that can just tire you out faster," notes Robin.

According to a study published in Elsevier in 2003, based on data on millions of deaths, a negative correlation was found between greater height and longevity.

The researchers observed that "shorter, smaller bodies have lower mortality rates and fewer diet-related chronic diseases." The article says that the life expectancy of short people is longer than that of their taller counterparts.

Of more than 2500 Finnish athletes, all of whom were men, skiers were shorter by about six inches (15 cm) and typically lived almost seven years longer than basketball players. And when comparing men who served in the Italian army, the study found that soldiers shorter than 5 feet 4 inches (162,5 cm) lived two years longer than their taller counterparts.

The biological reason for this is likely that "when you're taller, you need more cell replication to fill your body, and that can just tire the body out faster," says Robin.

Women are in the ideal height range and can handle more hardship.

Research shows that "height matters: the smaller you are, whether you're a dog or a human, the longer you'll live, and vice versa," says Sinclair, co-founder and scientific advisor to Tally Health, a biotech company dedicated to improving health and increase in life expectancy. “It turns out that women’s height perfectly matches their longevity.”

The average height of women varies by location. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American woman over the age of 20 is 63,7 inches, or about 5 feet 4 inches (162,5 cm).

According to some sources, the average height of women on a global scale is 159,5 cm, which is about 5 feet 3 inches.

Sinclair says that a big difference between the height of men and women is due to the difference in the level of growth hormone, which is much higher in women.

“It is known that the level of growth hormone affects life expectancy,” he recalls.

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However, height is not the only reason why women live longer.

Robin's hypothesis about why women live longer is simple: "Women are more resistant to mortality and death than men because they are more resistant to hardship."

Women, in his opinion, feel responsible not only for their lives, but also for the lives of their children. In this regard, "they must be stronger" and are forced to hold out a little longer than men.

“As long as a man remains healthy without disability, his mortality rate is the same as that of women,” explains Robin. “But men don’t survive well unless they’re in very good health.” Women, on the contrary, are much more resistant to “less than ideal” health.”

Robin finds this incredible: "It's amazing that women are living longer because it's been known and accepted for a long time that our society doesn't treat them well, so we expect the opposite."

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