Tom Kerridge is told he is at 'high risk' of heart disease

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For the purpose of the study, short men were defined as those who measured less than five foot five inches tall in height whilst short women were considered to be those who were less than five foot tall.

In contrast, men were considered tall if they measured five foot nine and a half inches or above and women were considered tall if they measured five foot five and a half inches.

After analysing 52 studies, Tuula Paajanen MD concluded that shorter members of a population were more one and a half times likely to develop disease due to their height.

Furthermore, short men were 37 percent more likely to die from any cause compared to taller men while short women were 55 percent more likely to die from any cause.

When it came to heart failure, those of a short stature were 52 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than taller individuals.

Although this data may be worrying, there are a couple of caveats.

At the time of the research the scientists couldn’t explain why shorter people had an increased risk.

Paajanen speculated that their hypothesis was “that shorter people would have narrower arteries”.

Furthermore, height isn’t the only factor that increases or decreases a person’s risk of developing heart disease.

A short person who eats healthily and exercises won’t have a higher risk of a heart attack than an inactive and overweight tall person.

There are a number of factors that affect a person’s risk of heart disease other than height, with exercise and diet twoof those factors.

It should also be noted that being tall comes with its own set of risks.

A study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics found that men shorter than five foot three inches were 65 percent less likely to develop blood clots than men taller than six foot two inches tall.

Superior height may also result in an increased risk of developing cancer, at least according to an article published in the Lancet.

This study, conducted in 2016, found that the risk of dying from cancer increased by four percent for every two and a half inches of height due potentially to increased organ size and signs of over nutrition.

Taller individuals were more likely to develop prostate cancer in men and breast, ovarian, endometrial and colon cancer in women.

There are health advantages to height advantages, but the good news isn’t all one way.

Increased height may mean a lower risk of developing heart disease, but it means an increased risk of developing cancer.

Overall, when it comes to health and height, the most important factors are the most basic.

After all, after a point a person cannot affect their height, but they can affect what goes into their bodies and what they do once those calories and carbohydrates are in there.

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