The Short or the Long of it

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Did you know that your height might affect your health? The average height for a man in the U.S. is 5 feet nine inches. For a woman, it is 5 feet 4 inches. You have probably seen that people in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the tallest in the world usually have some health issues attributed to their height. Here are some interesting findings about this. Some studies show that both men and women who are shorter than average may be less likely of getting either ovarian cancer or prostate cancer. A five-year study on more than 6,000 adults left scientists to think that taller people may be less likely to get diabetes 2. It is not totally clear why this is true except that short stature may have to do with poor nutrition or metabolism issues in childhood or before birth. Scientists aren't sure why but people who are 5 foot 3 or shorter are about 50% less likely to get heart disease than those who are 5 feet 8 or taller. Pretty interesting, huh?