Height and Survival at Older Ages among Men Born in an Inland Village in Sardinia (Italy), 1866–2006

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between individual height and survival at older ages among conscripts born between 1866 and 1915 in an inland village of Sardinia, Italy. Individual age at death was related to military height measurement at age 20. Differential longevity of conscripts at older ages was investigated through the comparison of age-specific mortality rates and life expectancy estimates. Results indicated that short conscripts (<161.1 cm) generally had higher survival rates than their tall peers (≥ 161.1 cm). At 70 years of age, tall peers were expected to live two years less than short conscripts. Biological mechanisms were examined in relation to the greater longevity of shorter people.

Longitudinal and cross-sectional changes with age in selected anthropometric and physiological traits in hospitalized adults: an insight from the Polish Longitudinal Study of Aging (PLSA)

“…Samaras (2014) claims that numerous studies demonstrated that shorter height or smaller body size is generally related to greater longevity in humans. Additional papers supporting this position include Holzenberger et al (1991) and Salaris et al (2012). Nevertheless, it is conceivable that both these opposing relationships are in fact spurious and result from different types of artifacts.…”

OBSOLETE: Longevity of Specific Populations

“…Thus, SES for all major phases of life has an important bearing on longevity independent of height. For example, Franks et al found that lower economic status was related to increased risk of CHD independent of other risk factors (Salaris et al, 2012). In addition, since people in higher SES are generally taller, the benefits due to SES can offset the negative effects of increased body height.…”

The somatotropic axis may not modulate ageing and longevity in humans

“…Thus, slightly taller people lived slightly longer and the author concluded that this relationship was ''not causal but coincidental: mitigated by diverse environmental factors such as nutrition, socioeconomic stressors, and disease load''. Salaris et al (2012) correlated height of conscripts at 20 years of age with remaining longevity after 70 years of age in a village of the Sardinia island, Italy (n = 391). Short men (\161.1 cm) died at 85.4 years of age and taller ones at 83.5 years of age but the advantage vanished with age, mean life expectancy being 4.1 and 3.6 years at 90 years of age in respectively short and tall men.…”