Especially the tall ones....That's all you need to know.

Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews. You know, short guys take a lot of crap. One of

my best friends growing up was about the same height as me, 5'2'', and was bullied constantly

for it. For ladies, it's reversed right? If you're too tall you're more likely to be the

target of teasing and bullying. Height is one of many gender roles we have here in the

Western world. And if you ask me, that's friggin stupid, because PEOPLE COME IN ALL SIZES AND

WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUR HEIGHT. Didn't they ever read doctor suess? A person's a

person no matter how small! Or large! And for the record, short people can get around

all quick like and do some real damage so...I'm just sayin....shortness is the bomb.

Don't believe me? I'll let the science do the talking then. A whopping 40 year long

study recently published in PLOS-1 monitored over 8000 Japanese-American men throughout

their lifetime and found that being short means living a longer life. The scientists

found, with great consistency, that the taller the man, the shorter his life. Those under

5'2'' lived the longest. Why do the shorter guys live longer? It all comes down to a gene:

FOXO3, which is responsible for a smaller body size and is also responsible for longevity.

The two go hand in hand, genetically. Scientists also found that the short guys were less likely

to get cancer and to have lower blood insulin.

It's good news for my fellow shorties -- and this isn't the first study to come to this

conclusion. Another study done in 2012 on another isolated population of men found that

the shortest in the group lived about 2 years longer on average. Having a sample that comes

from the same cultural and genetic background is really great from a scientific perspective

because it eliminates a lot of other variables that could come into play and affect the results.

These findings have also surfaced in studies of short women - although the studies on women

were related to a different genes involved in the regulation of human growth hormone.

Across other animal species, like mice, flies, roundworms-- the same or a very similar gene

has also been linked with a longer life. It's interesting because it offers some perspective

on the whole nature versus nurture question about living a long life...it may be less

in our control than we think. But, as if they saw the tidal wave of junk food and sitting

around coming in the distance, the scientists did tell the press that a healthy lifestyle

also goes a very long way toward living a long life.

Alrighty folks, how tall are you? Have you ever been teased for your height? Tell me

your stories down below and stay tuned for our next Dnews update.