Height, body size, and longevity is smaller better for the humanbody.doc

West J Med.?2002 May;?176(3): 206–208. PMCID:?PMC1071721 Copyright?? Copyright 2002 BMJ publishing Group Height, body size, and longevity: is smaller better for the humanbody? Thomas T Samaras1?and Harold Elrick2 1Reventropy Associates 11487 Madera Rosa Way San Diego, CA 92124 2Foundation for Optimal Health and Longevity Bonita, CA Correspondence to: Mr Samarassamarastt@ ? ?Other Sections▼ ? Martel and Biller reported that the socially ideal height for western menis 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) andrising.1?Withadvances in genetic engineering, parents will be able to control the heightsof their children, and these heights are likely to increase with each newgeneration. Indeed, greater height and associated lean body mass are viewedpositively by the medical profession and society. This bias is based on a fewstudies and our cultural values but ignores extensive data that indicate thatshorter stature is healthier. We summarize our findings of more than 25 yearsof personal and literatureresearch.?literatureresearch. Table 1 Age-standardized death rates from all causes, coronary heart disease(CHD), and stroke per 100,000 population (males) for 6 ethnic groups inCalifornia ? ?Other Sections▼ HEIGHT AND HEALTH In the past 20 years, the “bigger is better” misconception hasbeen promoted by studies that found that taller people—men over 183 cm(6 ft) and women over 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)—have lower death rates fromheart disease and all causes than shorter people (men under 170 cm [5 ft 7 in]and women under 150 cm [4 ft 11 in]). In 1999, we reviewed the findings ofseveral of thesestudies.2?Virtuallyall of these articles have ignored abundant data showing that short height perse does not adversely affect health. For example, the first National Healthand Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) found no relation between heightand heart disease when age and years of education were adjusted for 13,031 menand women tracked for 13years.3Theinvestigators reported that previous studies on height and h