The bigger is better myth has been promoted in the last 20 years by studies that found that taller people have better health. In addition to genetics and heredity, adult height is primarily determined by nutritional intake during infancy and childhood. The better your diet, the healthier and taller you’ll be. But did you know how height inversely correlates with life expectancy? 

Life expectancy is inversely related to height. According to studies, men under 5’9″ live 4.95 years longer than men over 5’9”.

Do Short People Live Longer Lives? 

It is unclear why, or even if, shorter people are predestined to live longer lives. More research is required.

There are currently several theories:

Caloric limitation or eating less. This may be a factor that favors shorter people living longer lives. Taller people have larger bones and internal organs than short people. This means they require a higher daily caloric intake to function properly.

Cells are fewer in shorter bodies. Tall people can have trillions of additional cells than short people. This increases the exposure and impact of free radicals and carcinogens on cells.

When there are more cells, there are more cell replications. Taller people may find that replacement cells are no longer available to repair tissue and organ damage as they age. (Source: Health Line)

What are Common Tall People Problems?

Cancer and other conditions that may be related to height are examples of health complications. Here’s what science has to say.

Cancer is a Taller Number

A 2016 study of American men and women discovered a link between height, cancer risk, and death from any cause. The study examined death certificates for 14,440 men and 16,390 women aged 25 and up.

According to the researchers, an additional inch of height increased men’s risk of death from all causes by 2.2 percent and women’s risk of death from all causes by 2.5 percent.

A one-inch increase in height resulted in a 7.1 percent increase in the risk of dying from cancer for men and a 5.7 percent increase in the risk of dying from cancer for women.

The researchers took into account education level and birthdays. They concluded that their findings indicated a positive increase in the participants’ access to excellent medical care for conditions other than cancer.

Taller Women and Shorter Women 

In multiple studies, taller women were found to have more Venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrences than shorter women.

この場合、血栓ができやすい長い脚や長い静脈が原因である可能性があります。この状態の他の潜在的なリスク要因には、年齢、肥満、長期入院が含まれます。

背が高い閉経後女性のリスクは？ 

2013年に実施された144,701人の閉経後女性を対象とした研究では、がんリスクと身長が調査されました。身長が高いことは、甲状腺がん、乳がん、大腸がん、卵巣がんなど、すべてのタイプのがんの発症リスクが低いことと関連していました。

身長はがんの発症に対してわずかだが統計的に有意な影響を持つことが判明しました。研究者はがんの既往歴がない女性のデータを調査し、体格指数（BMI）や体重も考慮しようとしました。

身長に加えて、他にも多くの要因が研究結果に影響を与えた可能性があります。例えば、喫煙率やアルコール摂取量は身長が高いほど増加する傾向があります。

教育水準、民族、収入レベル、経口避妊薬やホルモン療法の使用もすべて影響を与えた可能性があります。がん検診率は研究結果に影響を与えていないことが判明しました。 
(出典: Health Line)

出典: The Mirror