Birth weight is linearly related to obesity although short and premature babies are also at increased risk of obesity..Source: Mardones F, Villarroel L, et al. Association of perinatal factors and obesity in 6- to 8-year-old Chilean children. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2008, 37: 902-910.
“In general, chronic disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as some cancers, appear to have been uncommon, even in older people, until recent history.” Source: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute of Cancer Research, Washington, DC: AICR, 2007, p. 352.
Reventropy Associates was established in 1993 to focus on the ramifications of a world population that is constantly increasing in height and body weight. While many researchers have delved into specific areas of human height and growth, none has been devoted to the systematic evaluation of this critical area of human civilization. Tom Samaras founded Reventropy Associates and has worked with Harold Elrick, MD, Lowell H. Storms, PhD and Jonn Desnoes, MD, PhD, OMD, Andrzej Bartke, PhD, David Rollo, Ph.D, [...]
“A trend towards taller and heavier individuals appears as societies adopt modern lifestyles. This trend is not always beneficial because high birth weight, rapid growth, and high energy intake may be associated with development of cancer, diabetes, hypertension and stroke.” p. 537
“……recently showed that rapidly growing individuals (lizards, trees, and fish respectively) experienced lower long-term survival than slower growing conspecifics.” (p.E156)
“These findings support an adverse effect of relative “over-nutriton” in infancy on long-term cardiovascular disease risk……and do not support the promotion of faster weight gain in infants born small for gestational age.”
“Lower energy intake, slower childhood growth rates, and shorter stature …..might improve health at later stages of adult development.” p. 538
“……but across every species and now it appears to be in man as well, shorter stature is an advantage.”
“We found a highly significant inverse relation between height and replicative life span in humans of the same chronological age (r = – .35m, p = .007).” p. 4
Reventropy
This section contains information about “Reventropy Associates” and Tom Samaras – business facts, bios, mission, history and the research carried out.
Related studies by other researchers
- Martinez JA, et al. Mortality of NBA players. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 500; View here
- Ma W, et al. Adult height, dietary patterns and healthy aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017, 106, 2, 589-596. View here
- Lemez S, et al. Do “big guys” really die younger? PLoS ONE 2017, 12(10): e0185617/ View here
- Chmielewski P. The relationship between adult stature and longevity. Anthropological Review 2016, 79(4). 439-460. View here
- Sohn K. Now, the taller die earlier: The curse of cancer. J. Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Scie 2016, 71(6): 713-719. View here
- Ringsby TH, et al. On being the right size: Increased body size is associated with reduced telomere length under natural conditions . Proceedings of The Royal Society B 2015, View here
- Shapiro, Streja, et al. Association of height with mortality in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol . 2015, View here
- He Q, et al. Shorter men live longer. 2014, PLoS ONE 9(5): e94385. View here
- Bartke A. Healthy aging: is smaller better? Gerontology 2012, 58(4): 337-343. View here
- Mueller U. and Mazur A. Tallness comes with higher mortality in two cohorts of US army officers. Paper submitted at XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference, 2009. View here
- Martinez JA, et al. Mortality of NBA players. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 500; View here
- Ma W, et al. Adult height, dietary patterns and healthy aging. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017, 106, 2, 589-596. View here
- Lemez S, et al. Do “big guys” really die younger? PLoS ONE 2017, 12(10): e0185617/ View here
- Chmielewski P. The relationship between adult stature and longevity. Anthropological Review 2016, 79(4). 439-460. View here
- Sohn K. Now, the taller die earlier: The curse of cancer. J. Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Scie 2016, 71(6): 713-719. View here
- Ringsby TH, et al. On being the right size: Increased body size is associated with reduced telomere length under natural conditions . Proceedings of The Royal Society B 2015, View here
- Shapiro, Streja, et al. Association of height with mortality in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol . 2015, View here
- He Q, et al. Shorter men live longer. 2014, PLoS ONE 9(5): e94385. View here
- Bartke A. Healthy aging: is smaller better? Gerontology 2012, 58(4): 337-343. View here
- Mueller U. and Mazur A. Tallness comes with higher mortality in two cohorts of US army officers. Paper submitted at XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference, 2009. View here
Latest News
A recent paper reported on the hidden benefits of shorter, smaller bodies. The report indicates that shorter, smaller people have faster reaction times, greater endurance, greater strength to weight ratio, and are more agile. They also have less cancer risk and lower intakes of toxins due to lower consumption of liquids and solid foods. See Samaras T. Hidden benefits of shorter, smaller bodies, JSRR 19(2), 2018, article no JSRR.40878. DOI: 10.9734/JSRR/2018/40878
See publication list.
Newsflash
Research by Sharrow and Anderson (PLoSOne, 2016) found that twins survived longer than singletons. While not mentioned by the authors, the facts are that twins weigh about 2 pounds less than singletons at birth and tend to grow up being slightly lighter and shorter based on other studies. Identical twins, who tend to be the smallest, had a better survival rate vs. larger fraternal twins as well.
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