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Published 12:28 2 May 2012 BST
Updated 14:29 12 Nov 2014 GMT
If you’ve always been on the short side, don’t worry. You could have the last laugh on all those people who called you ‘short arse’ in secondary school. New research suggests that shorter men actually live longer than men of an average height.
The Irish Daily Mirror reports that scientists claim a survey of 500 men who were born between 1866 and 1915 backs up 12 previous studies which show that being short actually increases the length of your life.
All the men who took part in the survey were from the Italian island of Sardinia.
Sardinians are known for the fact that they are generally not as tall as people from other parts of Europe, but maybe this is a good thing because the island is officially known as a ‘blue zone.’ A blue zone is an area where a remarkably high percentage of people live well into their old age.
This further backs up the belief that scientists have when it comes to height and longevity being interlinked.
The latest research, which was carried out by Professor Poulain from Belgium and Dr Salaris from Italy, revealed that men who are vertically-challenged usually live two or more years longer than men who are taller.
So the next time your mates start giving you stick about your height in an attempt to wind you up, simply tell them that you don’t care because you’ll live longer than them anyway.
It’s a guaranteed way to end the jeering and subsequently make them start to question their own mortality.

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