getting shorter
Credit: Duane Beckett / Open AI

Unfortunately, as our age rises in number, our height goes in the opposite direction. Proven by experts like Adam Taylor, professor of Anatomy at Lancaster Medical School, getting shorter usually starts at the age of 40. After that, people lose an average of one centimeter per decade. Though men and women differ when it comes to height loss. Yearly, men lose around 0.08%-0.1% of their height, while women lose a little more, at 0.12%-0.14%. This is due to several factors, including bones, muscles, and posture.

Stand up straight. Postural changes can affect your height. Many aging adults have a stooped posture, often due to long periods of sitting or standing with a curved spine. This can gradually affect the erectness of the spine. However, stooping can also be due to maintaining better stability. Beyond how you sit in a chair, getting shorter also has biological roots. Height usually plateaus around 30 to 35, since bone and muscle mass decline, and discs between vertebrae lose water and shrink. The honeycomb structures within bones also become less dense, thus making you shorter.

Various studies have proven this. One such study focused on over 2,000 men and women and found that height loss accelerates with age. By age 70, men can average a 3 cm loss, while women face a 5 cm loss. By 80, this number could increase to 5 cm and 8 cm, respectively. Another study looked at bone loss, or osteopenia, as a cause of getting shorter, due to lower levels of testosterone and post-menopause.

It’s not just one factor that contributes to getting shorter. Many factors are at play. Flattened intervertebral discs, muscle loss, flattened feet, and osteoporosis all contribute to a shorter stature. This height loss accelerates after 70, and if it grows to be over 1 cm per year, it could signal dangerous health risks such as vertebral fractures and future falls.

Excessive height loss is also connected to several health issues, like kyphosis and degenerative scoliosis. Both of these conditions affect spinal alignment and can lead to physical limitations. Between the two sexes, women are more susceptible to height loss and spinal changes. It’s also important to note that most height loss is found in the spine rather than the limbs, emphasizing the importance of spinal health.

Height loss in some capacity may be inevitable, but there are ways to decrease the rate of getting shorter. Focusing on good posture, weight-bearing exercises, and eating calcium and vitamin D-rich foods is important. Plus, it’s good to start while you’re young, to build a foundation as you age. Try to avoid smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, as it can negatively impact bone and muscle health. While our daily compression is refreshed at night, proactivity with our height is crucial.

Height loss is not just growing older; sometimes it can reveal an underlying chronic condition, like osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, heart failure, and joint issues. While you may not want to watch your height diminish, it may be worth checking every once in a while to ensure no other factors are at play. This ensures that while you may be getting shorter, you are maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

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