The close inverse relationship between male and female height and life expectancy
Innovation in Aging, 2018
The close inverse relationship between male and female height and life expectancy.
By Samaras T, Marson S, & Lillis J.
Abstract
Many papers have provided reasons for why women live longer than men. These include XX vs. XY chromosomes, sex hormones, and better care of their health. In addition, males experience more deaths from homicides and risky behavior. These factors certainly can affect male and female health, but none has been proven to explain the actual difference that exists in life expectancy between the sexes.
Another factor related to life expectancy is body size differences between men and women; e.g., an early study showed that differences in male and female height are inversely related to life expectancy: males are 8% taller and have a 9% shorter life expectancy. This paper provides additional evidence that supports early findings that shorter height is a major factor in explaining why women live longer. To test the inverse relation between height and life expectancy, a list of 30 developed countries was used to compare height and life expectancy differences between men and women. While it is a fact that women have a higher life expectancy compared to taller men, the results showed a surprisingly close inverse relationship between height differences and lower life expectancy. For example, men were found to be 7.8% taller and had an 8.4% lower life expectancy. These results are similar to previous study findings in 1992, 2003, and 2009. They are also consistent with scores of studies showing shorter or smaller body size is related to greater longevity independent of sex.
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“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.”
A new article in Carnegie Council for Ethics
Publications of Interest
Wilhelmsen and colleagues tracked 67-year old men to 90 years of age and found that men who were shorter at 67 years tended to have better survival than taller men. See page 8 in Wilhelmsen L, Svardsudd K, Eriksson H, et al. Factors associated with reaching 90 years of age: a study of men born in 1913 in Gothenburg, Sweden. J Intern Med 2011; 269:441-451. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2010.02331
An Article in the Indian Heart Journal
Tom’s review of research findings on the health risks related to higher birth weight, rapid growth, early maturation and taller stature was recently published in the Women’s Health Bulletin. See: Samaras TT. Health risks of higher birth weight, rapid growth, early maturation and taller height. Women’s Health Bulletin. 2015 July; 2(3):e26805
An Italian Study Confirms Tom’s findings
Important findings from Sardinia show that shorter people live longer. The new study, authored by Salaris, Poulain and Samaras was recently published by the journal Biodemography and Social Biology.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is responsible for 126,000 deaths per year. A large Harvard study found that good nutrition can help you avoid this disease. For example, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish promote healthy lungs and reduce the risk. In contrast, refined grains, red meat, and cured meats increase the risk.
Source: Harvard Men’s Health Watch, 2010, vol 14, No. 7, pp 1-3.
