Taller People Are Becoming a Big Problem

by Thomas Samaras

In an article in the September 1996 Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, I first raised the issue of the harmful effects of increasing body size on human performance, health, and the resources of the Earth.

In the US, the average male now stands about 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 185 pounds, while females average 5 feet 4.5 inches and 158 pounds. For males, this is up since WWI from about 5'7" and 140 pounds. Females were also much smaller then.

People are getting bigger all over the world. The height of the average Japanese has increased by 3 to 5 inches since WWII. The Chinese have been spurting upward at the rate of an inch per decade since the 1950's. This increase in stature and body weight is due to industrialization and the consumption of increasingly rich food.

This huge growth in human biomass aggravates the world's present problems. Bigger people need more of just about everything and thus accelerate global heating, food and water needs, health costs, resource depletion and pollution. If we only had a billion or so people on the earth, our size wouldn't matter much, but with the population of 6 billion expanding to 12 billion in the next 50 years, we simply can't afford to have a world filled with 200-pound males and 160-pound females.

Although most scientists have ignored the possible effects of increasing human size, an analysis of the impact of a 20-percent-taller US population shows that the effects would be far from trivial; this population of larger people would require an annual increase of 600 million tons of resources - such as iron, steel, aluminum, coal - 40 quadrillion BTU's of energy, and 180 million acres of farmland.

Pollution would also increase substantially. Garbage would increase by 80 million tons a year, and climate-warming carbon dioxide gases would increase by 3 billion tons. The bill for bigger clothing, more food and water, larger homes and cars, bigger airliners, etc., could total $3 trillion per year. The increase in human size would also have a substantial impact on rainforests, freshwater resources and biodiversity.

In addition to having an adverse effect on the environment, a larger body size holds almost no advantage for the individual - except in our minds. In fact, the lifestyle that has promoted the growth of larger human bodies over the last 100 to 150 years, which includes a high-calorie diet, has also created an epidemic of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Japan provides an example. After WWII, the US shipped meat, dairy products and eggs to Japan and thereby modified traditional Japanese eating habits. As a result, Japan's population grew taller and heavier, and now have an increased propensity for heart disease, breast cancer, and other diseases that may stem from a rich diet.

An extensive Chinese study found that taller, heavier subjects had higher death rates from cancer and heart disease. In the May 15, 1996 Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Regina Ziegler, Robert N. Hoover, Abraham M.Y. Nomura, et al., found "strong indications of cancer risk" among taller and heavier Asian-American women in the US. A 1990 World Health Organization report supports these nutritional findings and cautions developing countries against copying Western dietary practices. Instead, they recommend a low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt and high fiber diet.

The Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences study presented extensive data showing that smaller people live somewhat longer than taller people. In animal studies, smaller breeds of dogs, cats and horses tend to live longer. University of North Dakota researchers found that mice about a third of normal size lived about 50 percent longer. Another study found that super-size mice had about 50 percent shorter lives than normal mice.

Many consider tall people to be better leaders, and one University of Pittsburg study found that [male] college graduates over 6 feet in height were paid 12 percent more than shorter men. Most chief executives in the US are males who are 6 feet or over.

While it is clear that larger animals (whales, elephants) live longer than animals with faster metabolisms (rabbits, mice), Steven N. Austed, in a 1997 article in the journal Experimental Gerontology, found that "within species, body size is inversely related to longevity." In other words, bigger elephants die younger.

Larger body size results in proportionately lower body strength, lower endurance and slower reaction times. In fact, that old saw, "the bigger they are the harder they fall" is based on laws of physics. For example, if a 20-percent-taller person trips and falls, he or she will hit the ground with over 100 percent more energy than the shorter person. Champion gymnasts are very small because they are better able to manipulate their bodies and can withstand the impact of landing with less chance of injury than larger people. The gold medal-winning 1996 US Women's Olympics gymnastics team has an average height of under 5 feet. Small weightlifters, such as Turkey's Main Suleymanoglu, also do exceptionally well in proportion to their weight. Shorter bodies have the advantage in skiing, diving, horse racing, wrestling and long-distance running.

Many of the world's great achievers were short or small. A few of these include: Michelangelo, Gandhi, Churchill, Einstein, Voltaire, Mozart, Mother Teresa, Picasso, Madison, Martin Luther King and Joan of Arc. The father of the Japanese electronics industry, Konosuke Matsushita, was 5'4" and 132 pounds. High-achieving ancient societies of people short by today's Western standards include the Chinese, Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, Romans, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas.

Thomas Samaras [5'10"], a systems engineer and configuration management specialist, has spent 20 years researching this topic. He is the author of The Truth About Your Height [Tecolote Publications, San Diego]. His findings have appeared in Harper's, The Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Washington Post, US News and World Report, LA Times, Science Digest and The Smithsonian. For more information, contact: Reventropy Associates, 11487 Madera Rosa Way, San Diego, CA 92124.