Is it better to be short or tall? For short men who have always wanted to grow taller, the answer is obvious, but in recent times science is beginning to disprove the myth of height that society has imposed for hundreds of years. It turns out, in fact, that short stature, and by that we mean below average, can be an advantage both from a personal health point of view and from the point of view of the health of the planet.

The recent debate began with an editorial published in the New York Times that took up the results of some research that showed that a short staturecould be an evolutionary advantage  today because it would have benefits on the likelihood of developing certain diseases and because it would have a positive impact on the environment.

In short, all this could be a real revenge for all those who have always suffered for their height while dreaming of extra inches. Let’s not forget that according to Swedish research short stature is a suicide risk factor and that some people even undergo risky surgery to increase their height: perhaps the time has come to change out point of view!

Where the false myth of height comes from

In his book “Size Matters”, journalist Stephen S. Hall recounts that in the 18th century, Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia paid stratospheric salaries to very tall soldiers that came from all over the world. This fact institutionalised the desirability of height in post-medieval society and this conception, which has been consolidated and reinforced over time, has also reached the modern era, and has eventually created a discrimination against short stature.

But is this a myth with solid reasons and foundations? Not really, and some recent research proves it.

Short stature is good for your health

A study conducted by the Rocky Mountain Regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center in the United States, which analysed over 250,000 people, suggests that height may be a risk factor for several clinical conditions that can compromise health. In this research the correlation between height and over 1,000 clinical conditions was investigated, making it the largest ever conducted on this topic.

And the conclusion seems to be that height can influence more than 100 clinical traits. Some examples? Tall men have a higher risk of developing varicose veins, skin infections such as foot and leg ulcers, a threefold greater likelihood of developing peripheral thrombosis, and even episodes of atrial fibrillation, a dangerous cardiac arrhythmia. But the health risks for tall people do not end there, as it turns out that they have a greater tendency to suffer from back pain and hip fractures, not to mention certain cancers that have a higher incidence for those of taller stature.

Short stature is good for the planet

Apparently short stature would also be a more “ecological” trait because it would consume fewer resources, and on a planet with 8 billion people this could be of real value.

Thomas Samaras has been studying tall stature for 40 years and is known in some circles as the godfather of the so-called “Shrink Think”, a philosophy according to which short individuals today are evolutionarily superior. His calculations show that if we maintained our proportions, but were all just 10% shorter, it would save 87 million tonnes of food a year in the US alone (but also trillions of gallons of water and millions of tonnes of waste). “I don’t want the high-ups to feel guilty, but this is the right time to be short” Samaras wrote, bluntly.

Fashion takes care of height!

At a glance, short stature is green by nature, as well as providing some health benefits.But the myth of height at all costs endures because it has been ingrained in society for hundreds of years.

This is the reason why, even if, rationally, researches such as that described above makes us realise that there is nothing wrong with short stature, and that indeed, there may be evolutionary advantages to making it desirable, there is something inside us that still urges us to dream of being taller. The fact is that you cannot wipe out hundreds of years of conditioning in one minute!

For all the men who would like to be taller, then, fashion takes care of that. GuidoMaggi makes luxury men’s elevator shoes to change the lives of those who have always experienced their stature with some discomfort by wishing for something different.  This type of footwear can increase a man’s height by 6 to 12 centimetres by means of internal, comfortable and invisible elevator systems so that for others the additional centimetres are not artificial, but normal, as if they had always been there.

Elevator shoes, for men who do not reach average height, are a way to enjoy the advantages of their natural height and at the same time reap the benefits of a taller stature than the “supplied” one. In fact, by having a complete shoe rack with elevator shoes for every need, from sandals for summer to boots for winter, it is actually possible to conquer a new height because you will never have to give them up.

And then there are also the hidden benefits of wearing GuidoMaggi elevator shoes: benefits that you generally don’t think about, such as, for example, improved posture that contributes to a healthy body and gives your figure an extra boost.