Ageing rates vary widely, says study

Maggie!

I think it was the sheer size of the men, rather than the women, that made me feel so small, Ana. They're huge! DH is a bit of a short***e - I'm used to someone bumbling along beside me at the same level, allowing for the heels!

(I mean as a whole, not that 5'7" is particularly tall...)

Average height for a woman in the Netherlands 5'7" - certainly taller than average!

Really, Ana? That surprises me too.

You're right on Holland, Envious. I'm average UK height, but felt as if we'd arrived in the Land of the Giants last year in Amsterdam.

I was surprised to learn from my googling that the average height of a US woman is acually shorter by half an inch than that of an average UK woman! Who'd have thunk it?

(5.3 and a half" and 5'4" respectively, apparently)

A couple of links for rosesarered (whether you want it or not . . .)

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10823649/Shorter-men-live-longer-scientists-find.html

www.newsweek.com/do-short-women-live-longer-84217

And there are some other advantages in being short - www.shortsupport.org/Research/samaras.html

I reckon it all catches up with you as your seventies progress anyway.

Sorry if that's downbeat.

Ana if you want to see tall people you should visit Holland!

No - but it's a darn sight taller than 4'10"!

Of course we all know that everyone in the US is about 7' tall, Envious...

I'm 5'7" is that really so tall?

I don't! I'm 5'7"...

We need somebody to provide a link to check the science of short people living longer ( No, please! Only joking.)
anyway, science or not, I like the sound of it.

I'm really a tall thin person folded in half....

No way! Tall people live longer because they can breath fresher air up there.

I think it's been proven that short people live longer. The heart doesn't have to pump blood so far up!

I'm only 4'10" (in heels!) and am the only shorta**e in the family, so I was worried about my two DSs taking after me. Funnily enough I wouldn't have worried if they had been girls as it was never a problem for me being short. I needn't have worried though, as they are both average height. Thank goodness for DH's family's tall genes!

needless to say I am short enough not to reach the top shelf in supermarkets and have to move the seat forward in all normal cars.

nothing wrong with being short - excepting extreme shortness
being of Celtic stock (Cornish/Welsh) I am the same height as my mother and grandmother and not unusual for the post-war generation.
horrified at the suggestion of growth hormones for being 'short'

I know what S2B is talking about. My DS didn't grow at all between 10 - 14, so we were worried. We got an appontment with the consultant (himself only about 5'4") and he ordered a wrist bone x-Ray which showed DS had a bone age of 10. This was good, he explained as he would still grow to normal height. Had the bone age been 14 it would have meant he had the same bone age as chronological age and therefore would not grow very tall.

Sure enough within 6 months he had a growth spurt and is now a good average height.

I understand it now and I 'm not even a maths teacher!

just trying to clear up the confusion.
#helpstogetitright

Not relevant but I think interesting. The Royal Ballet School did bone age tests on a boy of 16 who had tall parents and decided he would not grow to be tall enough to be a professional ballet dancer. He went to another school, grew to over 6 ft and did follow his dream!

Oh you meant 4 years less than their actual age

Well, that was good news for you then.