I believe I stopped growing at the age of 13. I have been 5 feet 2 inches tall for the better part of my life.
The average height for a woman in America is 5 feet 3 inches, so my experiences of being a short
woman may be familiar to many others.
I may not be the shortest female out there, but I still know what it's like to have people rest their arms on your head and call you cute when you're 22 years old.
Yes, the short jokes get old, but hey, I humor the tall people who think they're clever anyway.
The disadvantages of being short are few. I have to move when a tall person sits in front of me at the theater.
I have to make sure I get to the front at a concert or I miss the whole thing. And standing on my tip-toes to reach the top shelf at the supermarket has become a quest because my toes aren't enough to get me to the top.
But it's not all neck strains and calf-raises that plague me.
There are some positives.
A scientific study conducted by Thomas T. Samaras for the past 30 years found several benefits of being short and having a smaller body size. Samaras is the Director and Senior Researcher at Reventropy Associates in San Diego.
Shorter people are less likely to break bones when they fall, have faster reaction times, greater ability to accelerate body movements and are less likely to get severely injured in a car accident.
Shorter people have a smaller impact on the environment. It was found that people averaging 6 feet and 190 pounds can impact human survival by creating more pollution and depletion of resources, such as water, energy and oil.
Shorter people live longer. Bigger bodies need more cells and duplication of cells is limited.
Now being short doesn't excuse people from eating right and exercising. In fact, there is more pressure on short people to stay healthy and
fit because their bodies are so small.
Even with that precaution, the medical benefits have confirmed my
happiness with being short.
Yes, my height would never allow me to be a model, but the health benefits and ability to maneuver through big crowds make it all worthwhile.
You do not get stuck in small places.
You can duck faster.
You can get up faster when you fall down.
You do not have to duck your head down to fit in a small door.
You don’t hit your head on so many things (we’re smarter because of it!)