The mortality risk decreased 7 percent for each 5-cm increment in height

A recent study shows that tall women live longer than shorter women, probably because they have gained height in a healthy environment in addition to hereditary factors.

Sung Joo-hon, a professor at the Graduate School of Public Health of Seoul National University and Song Yun-mi, a doctor of family medicine at Samsung Medical Center, conducted a survey among 344,519 women aged 40-64 from 1994 to 2004 to find out the correlation between height and mortality rate.

A survey of 10,216 women who died during this period, showed that the mortality risk decreased 7 percent for each 5-cm increment in height. For the research, risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise behavior and income in each age group were taken into consideration. The findings are published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

A 5-cm increment in height was associated with 16 percent lower risks of death from respiratory diseases or stroke and with 13 percent lower risk of death from diabetes mellitus or circulatory diseases.

On the downside, a 5-cm increment in height was associated with a 5 percent higher risk of death from cancer. The outcome of a six-year survey of 386,627 male government officials by the research team in 2003 shows that a 5-cm increment in height was associated with a 3 percent lower mortality risk.

August 18, 2008