Short children are at greater risk of suffering a stroke later in life, according to new research.
Being two to three inches shorter growing up raised the likelihood of the disease in both men and women.
The discovery follows research by British scientists showing the vertically challenged are at increased risk of a heart attack.
The latest findings were based on more than 300,000 Danish schoolchildren born between 1930 and 1989.
Short children are at greater risk of suffering a stroke later in life, according to new research
‘Short height in children is a marker of stroke risk’
Those who were two inches shorter than average at seven, 10 and 13 were 11 per cent more likely to have an ischaemic stroke as adults than their taller peers.
This is the most common form of the disease where a clot blocks blood and oxygen flow to the brain. Most cases were diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 75.
Men, who were short as children were also 11 percent more likely to suffer a stroke triggered by bleeding on the brain, called an intracerebral haemorrhage. This did not apply to women.
Strokes, which occur when the blood supply to the brain is cut off, are the third most common cause of premature death and a leading cause of disability in the UK. They affect 57,000 people a year in England, alone.
The average height of a 13 year old child is five feet three with a seven year old measuring around four feet.
A previous study of more than a million adults found those who were two and a half inches taller than average were six and ten percent less likely to die from an ischaemic and intracerebral haemorrhage, respectively.
But this is the first of its kind to look at the link with height in childhood. It could lead to prevention strategies, such as promoting healthier lifestyles for youngsters and encouraging women to eat well in pregnancy.
Worldwide, higher height means fewer strokes
Senior study author Professor Jennifer Baker said: ‘Our study suggests short height in children is a possible marker of stroke risk and suggests these children should pay extra attention to changing or treating modifiable risk factors for stroke throughout life to reduce the chances of having this disease.’
These include healthier diets and protecting against stress, said professor Baker who is a metabolic geneticist at the University of Copenhagen.
She added: ‘Although short stature has associations with the risk of stroke that are nearly as strong as for body mass index, studies investigating growth, as opposed to weight gain, have been neglected.
‘A potential explanation is that it is not possible to intervene on adult height, and the effects of doing so in childhood are uncertain.
‘However, in addition to being genetically determined, adult height is a marker of exposures affecting childhood growth – for example, maternal diet during pregnancy, childhood diet, infection, and psychological stress – of which many are modifiable and all are thought to affect the risk of stroke.’
Researchers noted that a decline in stroke incidence and mortality rates in most high-income countries, mainly in women, occurred simultaneously with a general increase in adult height.
The researchers said future studies should look at why their is a relationship betwen childhood height and a stroke later in life
Future studies should try to understand why, say scientists
Taken together, this suggests the involvement of shared underlying mechanisms for height and stroke development.
Professor Baker said: ‘Height at seven years was inversely and significantly associated with ischaemic stroke in both sexes and with intracerebral haemorrhage in men.
‘Associations were similar at older childhood ages and were stable throughout the study period.’
She said the global burden of stroke will increase in the future, and identifying disease mechanisms that ‘improve possibilities of prevention is essential.’
Baker said: ‘Our results support the potential role of early life exposures associated with growth before mid childhood in stroke genesis.’
The researchers say the results published in Stroke have implications for understanding disease origin rather than for clinical risk prediction.
They said future studies should focus on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood height and later stroke.
Heart disease also related to height
A previous study by Leicester University found every 2.5 inches difference in height between two people makes the shorter person 13.5 per cent more likely to develop heart disease.
The researchers studied the DNA of people of various heights; some had suffered heart disease and some had not.
They found that the same genetic variants that help determine a person’s adult height also influence the development of their cardiovascular system – using data from 200,000 people.
The study found that, compared with someone who is 5ft 6in tall, a person who is just 5ft tall has on average a 32 per cent higher risk of coronary heart disease – the commonest cause of premature death worldwide.
The condition narrows the arteries that supply blood to the heart, owing to a build-up of fatty material known as plaque inside the walls of the arteries.
If a blood clot forms over the plaque an artery can become completely blocked, causing a heart attack.