Study: Short people have higher heart risk

cnn. ^ | June 9, 2010 | Sarah Klein

[JoeProBono]

Being short isn't easy. Short people make less money, have a harder time finding a mate, and are less likely to be elected to public office, statistics show.

A new study suggests that it gets worse: The shortest short people -- men under 5 feet 5 inches and women under 5 feet -- are roughly 50 percent more likely than the tallest people to have a heart attack or die from heart disease, according to an analysis published in the European Heart Journal.

[JoeProBono]

[shibumi]

"I’m 4 inches over the limit."

Good to know we don't have to throw you back.

[Salamander]

Has anyone ever successfully thrown a piranha back?

[shibumi]

I suppose this would be the wrong time to suggest something more along the lines of one of those "Pedicure Goldfish"?

(I don't suppose there'd be a "right" time to suggest that either..... Oh, well, I'll just keep it to myself and the ten or twelve thousand people on-line now.)

[Salamander]

Poor pitiful thing.

Who got up one day and said “Ya know...I’d really love to have goldfish who looks like the elephant man.”

Then again, I wound up with a Koi who’s wearing Alice Cooper’s makeup so what do I know?

[TNdandelion]

My great grandfather was 5'2 (about where I stand) and he lived to be 99.5 yrs old. We don't really have many tall people in our family although my 12yr old is already taller than me!!

I don't think it's so bad being a short female. But I'd think it would be tougher being a short male.

[Paved Paradise]

I agree and it should not be that way either. My father was very short and my mom taught me to measure a man by the “neck up.” ha ha. Meanwhile, as a petite gal, I had the choice of guys since they were all “tall enough” for me.

[Paved Paradise]

Oh my gosh, you did not have to say, “Get it?” You are really funny and I just loved your entire post. Thanks!!! Meanwhile, you reminded me that laughing and enjoying life probably have way more to do with longevity than stature.

[BenKenobi]

The toughest thing are the ladies who insist on dating tall people.

People ask me what I look for in a gal, and I say, well I’m looking for someone with large breasts, tan and gorgeous.

They invariably get all snotty, and then I ask if they’d prefer ‘tall, dark and handsome’ ;)

[Deb]

That’s a tough one. The study doesn’t seem to care about weight in relation to height. It also doesn’t mention relative wealth which I consider a HUGE factor. Take the 4’2” Michael Bloomberg. When he stands on his money, he’s a frickin’ giant!