No advantage to being short, you say? Think again.

Monty has some news for you. Us little guys lift more weight per pound, run further, live longer, and face cancer less, and that’s just for starters.

Here’s a long list of proven advantages to being of lesser height from The Truth about Your Height by researcher Thomas T. Samaras, who argues that us wee folk are better for the environment.

  • Short men require less fuel to live and work
  • We are less prone to injury when falling (short guys hit the ground with less impact because they are falling from a lesser height).
  • We face less back strain when picking things up. (For a 6 foot, 190 pounder bending over gravity pulls at a force nearly twice that of a 5 foot, 110 pounder.)
  • Pound for pound, shorter men can lift more. The reason: large people increase in weight faster than their arm and leg muscle strength increases. (Olympic champion Naim Suleymanoglu broke three world weightlifting records in one Olympics. He also became the first man to lift 2.5 times his weight in the snatch lift. Suleymangolu stands under 5′, but not too many tall guys would want to mess with him. Check out these videos of him lifting.)
  • Shorter people tend to have greater endurance. (The tiny Tarahumara Indians of northern central Mexico can run 120 miles without stopping to rest. The short ancient Aztecs could carry a 75-pound load on their backs for 15 hours.) Marathon champions tend to be relatively short and light.
  • Shorter people are generally more agile and quick (the better to get away from nasty big people). This is why most gymnasts are short (think of Kurt Thomas at 5’5″). The same goes for many martial arts experts. Bruce Lee was 5.7″.
  • Lower risk of joint problems. (Joints don’t increase as much in size as people get bigger and heavier.)
  • Shorter men retain more lung power as they age. (Larger lungs are more affected by gravity with age.)
  • Here is a biggie – Shorter men live longer. (an average of 1.2 years with each inch increase in height).
  • Short people get less cancer.
  • Short people can accelerate more rapidly.
  • Short men have an easier time maintaining normal body temperature, so are less likely to face heat stroke.
  • Short people consume fewer of the earth’s calories, and create less waste and pollution. (Of course, my Uncle Morty is an exception, especially when he eats Aunt Hetty’s cabbage soup.)
  • It costs less to keep short people alive—less fabric for clothes, less food eaten, less water needed for drinking and showering, smaller cars. (except for a few short men who need big cars to compensate for certain other lacks.)

Samaras’ research focuses on “the ramifications of a world  population that is constantly increasing in height and body weight.” You can read more about his work on his Web site, www.humanbodysize.com.

Any more advantages you can think of?