Hard to swallow: May 2005

A study of more than 4,000 women by Bristol University shows that those with short legs have a higher risk of developing heart disease than their leggier counterparts. Researchers from the university's department of social medicine measured the height, leg length, trunk length and weight of women aged between 60 and 79 from across Britain, as well as testing how well their lungs worked, whether they were former or current smokers, and taking note of their social class. Almost 700 of the 4,000 women had heart disease, with 31% of the 700 having a history of heart attacks.

The study investigated leg length as it is seen as an indicator of childhood diet and living conditions. Other factors, such as being older, obese and a smoker were also found to increase heart disease risk; but even when these factors were taken into account, leg length was still strongly linked to a woman's risk of developing heart disease, with the researchers coming to the conclusion that risk decreased by 16% for every extra 43mm.

The women who had experienced heart problems were found to have leg lengths typically ranging from 746.2 to 752.6mm, while healthy women's legs were seen to measure between 757.5 and 760.3mm.

Dr Debbie Lawlor, who led the study, said: 'the protective effect of tall stature is unlikely to be the result of wider arteries.' Instead, she said it was likely to be an indication of environmental factors from birth to puberty that will have affected growth of the bones in the legs and had a long-term effect on future heart disease risk: 'breast feeding and high-energy diets at a young age, as well as being born into an affluent family, positively influence growth; conversely, having parents who smoke and being born into a poor family will negatively influence growth.'

Judy O'Sullivan, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'latest figures show that around 53,000 UK women die each year of heart disease. What this study highlights is that factors that stunt growth, such as smoking and poor diet, increase your risk of coronary heart disease, as do high cholesterol levels and obesity.'