8 surprising benefits to being petite
If you’ve ever seen your size as a disadvantage, stop right there.
Being shorter than average might not get you a career as a catwalk model but there are loads of benefits to being petite and being able to shop at Short Girls Club is just one of them. Here is our list of eight reasons why you should embrace your height (or lack of) and make the most of being small.
- Our reactions are faster
People who are petite are more agile and have quicker reactions than those who are tall. This is because the messages sent from your nerves to your brain have less far to travel, making your reflex actions and responses seem more instant. Shorter bodies also find it easier to bend, twist and spin. This is one reason that petite athletes excel in sports like martial arts, gymnastics, diving, skating, skiing and snowboarding. Shorter people are also typically better at long distance running and cycling.
- Longer life expectancy
Smaller bodies require fewer resources to support themselves. The taller you are, the more cells you have in your body which means there is more chance of something going wrong and mutations developing which could cause cancer. The highest proportion of centenarians in Europe are found in Villagrande Strisaili in Sardinia, where the average height among the older men is just 5ft 3. Research carried out there found that taller members of the population typically lived two years less than their smaller neighbours. Another study, this time involving 1.3 million people in Spain, found that every extra centimetre of height knocked 0.7 years off a person’s life expectancy.
- No worries about leg room
Many flight operators now charge passengers a premium if they want seats with extra leg room. Being short means you don’t have to worry about how to squeeze your long legs into economy seating and you are more likely to be comfortable in smaller spaces. This advantage extends beyond flying and travelling on buses and trains – it also makes trips to the theatre and cinema easier too.
- There’s more choice when it comes to dating
Size shouldn’t matter when it comes to love but there is no denying that height is often a key feature on people’s online dating profiles. Typically, women say they are looking for men who are taller than them, while men say they prefer women who are shorter than they are. Being petite gives you a wider choice of potential partner as let’s face it, most people are going to be taller than you are. You also don’t need to worry about towering over people when you put on a pair of heels.
- You are less likely to fall
When you are short, you have a lower centre of gravity, which makes your body more stable and balanced. This means you are less likely to fall over and if you do, you probably won’t hurt yourself as much as a taller person. A study carried out on American women working as nurses in the 1980s found that those who were 5ft 8 or taller were more than twice as likely to fracture a hip as those who were 5ft2 or shorter.
- People assume you’re younger
When you’re short, people tend to assume you are also young. This can be a real pain when you’re a teenager who is desperate to be treated like an adult but it comes into its own when you are older. You may need to make sure you always have ID on you when you are buying wine though.
- Beds are more comfortable
Being petite means you will find pretty much any size bed comfortable and you won’t have to worry about your feet sticking off the end or needing to lie curled up to stay under the covers.
- You’re in great company
It can be easy to assume that famous women are tall but one thing you will probably notice if you meet a celebrity in the flesh is that they are much smaller than they appear on screen. There are a lot of notable women who may be lacking in height but more than make up for it with talent and success. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is just 5ft 2, while Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory measures in at 4ft 11. Both Imelda Staunton and Dawn French are 5ft, whereas Dame Judi Dench is just under 5ft 2 - and all three of them are arguably national treasures in Britain.
