Shorter men live longer

Tall men have greater stature, but a new study has found short men actually live longer.

The findings, based on a study of Japanese-American men enrolled in the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS), indicated men who are shorter than 5-foot tend to live longer, for reasons that may be linked to genetics, the Newsmax Health reported.

Bradley Willcox, M.D., one of the investigators for the study and a professor in the University of Hawaii, said the researchers reached their conclusions by comparing the height and longevity of more than 8,000 American men of Japanese ancestry born between the years 1900 and 1919.

"We split people into two groups – those that were 5-foot and shorter, and taller than 5-foot," he said. "The folks that were 5 and shorter lived the longest."

The study, published in the Public Library of Science Journal PLOS ONE, determined shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan. Shorter men were also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less cancer.

Of the 8,000 men who were part of the study, about 1,200 men lived into their 90s and 100s, and approximately 250 of those ment are still alive today.