On average, kids are bigger these days than they were 10, 20, 30 years ago, so it doesn't make much sense that school kids today are using the same school equipment as the kids from decades ago.

Sure, there are budgets to keep in mind, but over in the UK, recent studies are showing that kids are just too big for their school desks and chairs. Kids are taller, yes, but they're also wider -- and heavier. And not only is this a safety hazard, it's a health hazard -- kids are suffering back pains and other problems because of their too-small chairs, according to the Daily Mail.

So if it's time for new desks, wouldn't it be great if these desks could be worked into the budget?

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My son is very athletically inclined. He does well at every team sport he plays and he invariably picks active play over anything else. He's constantly riding his bike, roller-blading, or running around the neighborhood. So, needless to say, my son is in good shape. But lately, he's been complaining that his legs feel "weak."

I didn't know what was going on at first. In fact, I thought maybe his baseball practices were wearing him out. So I had suggested he start jogging to build up his leg muscles. But then I noticed that his eating habits have changed a bit and his sleep patterns are a bit off-kilter, too. So it finally hit me. Growing pains.

I'll admit that it took me longer to catch on than it should have. But I'm new to this parenting gig. My 10-year-old son is adopted and has only lived with me since last June. So, though he's likely experienced growing pains several times now, this is my first experience with them as a parent.

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549 men and women were quizzed to rate their levels of jealousy. The Spanish and Dutch researchers found that while most men felt insecure about rich, attractive, and strong rivals, but shorter men had higher levels of jealousy. Both short and tall women exhibited higher levels of jealousy where women of average height appeared more secure.

So what in the world does height have to do with jealousy? Scientists state that height is one of the first things human notice about each other and is therefore associated with status. Previous research has shown that taller men are more likely to be successful in their careers and earn more money in their lifetime.

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I can't tell you how many pairs of athletic pants I've purchased only to find that I'm unable to wear them with actual athletic shoes because they're just too short. While I'm taller than average, I'm no giant, so I can't imagine how difficult it is for truly tall women to find yoga or warm up pants that don't show their socks.

I noticed about a year ago that Victoria's Secret offered yoga pants in long lengths, and I was so excited. Just so you understand, I'm not that concerned about how I look while I'm working out, but I like to have casual athletic pants for errands I run before or after the gym, and yoga pants are perfect for that. So, I went online to order, and get this: the pants were $29 to start with (alright, fine), and then when shipping (standard, within two weeks or so) and tax were added on, they came to nearly $40!

That's why I was ecstatic to find these C9 by Champion pants at Target available in long length. They're only $19.99 (there's another style available for $29.99), they're good quality, and THEY'RE LONG! I only see them in the store on occasion, but they are available online as well. They're also available in short length, so my vertically challenged girlfriends needn't feel left out, either.

Woo hoo! I'll never look like I'm getting ready to do yoga in a flood again!

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In an odd piece of research released by British scientists yesterday, those women with shorter legs were found to have a higher risk of liver disease compared to women with longer legs. Note -- this is not really height, but leg length.

3,600 women were studied and the overall conclusion was one of higher liver damage the shorter the legs were. Previously, shorter leg length has been connected to diabetes and heart disease -- but not liver disease specifically.

The link was described in relation to how leg length's pointers to how well a person was nourished in early childhood. The researchers said "In particular, evidence shows that breast-feeding, high-energy intake at four years and childhood affluent socioeconomic position are all associated with longer adult leg length."

Interesting that something from early childhood can affect an organ's health so long after the fact, but there you have it.

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The Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement is not all it's cracked up to be. It's a good guide and can offer a general view of your placement on the obesity continuum, but it's based on height and weight alone -- and herein lies the problem.

BMI doesn't take into account body frame or muscle mass and in one recent study cited in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports, 60 percent of women were heavier or thinner than their BMI calculations indicated.

Next time you're in the market for determining your true size, ask for a skin fold test at your doctors office or your local fitness club. Let someone actually pinch that fat. Then, you'll know more clearly where you stand.

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Are you surprised at all when I tell you American obesity rates are soaring? Probably not. I wasn't when my husband told me about this weighty article he'd read. It revealed that not one state showed a decline in obesity during the year 2006. Mississippi was the first state to crack the 30 percent barrier for obese adults. West Virginia and Alabama were just slightly behind. Colorado was the leanest state with a 17.6 percent rate. This year's report, looking at overweight children for the first time, has the District of Columbia topping the charts with heavy kids and Utah boasting the lowest rates for little ones.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic. And we need to treat it as an emergency. First step: determine where you stand. My hubby located this body mass index (BMI) calculator. I share it with you today so you can chart your own measurement. Just enter your height and weight and then calculate your BMI with one click of your mouse. If you come up with the number 30 or higher, you fit the definition of obese. If you find yourself in this predicament, you're in the right place. That's Fit offers an abundance of health and fitness tricks that can help you whittle away at your digits. If you are below the 30 mark, pat yourself on the back. And keep on truckin' in the direction of health, fitness, and wellness.

There's just one way to fix our nation's obesity problem -- plain old hard work. Each and every one of us must eat right, exercise right, and minimize our health risks. Only then can we watch our obesity statistics, like our BMIs, melt away to more perfect numbers.

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School-age children tend to row like weeds, but in Taiwan, they're generally getting shorter. Why, you ask? Well, studies are pointing the finger at education. More specifically, it's thought that school pressure, a poor diet and a lack of sleep are to blame. Most students in Taiwan are not only expected to do well in their traditional studies, but they're also encouraged to take many extra-circular activities, including English as a second language.

Academic excellence is important, but at what cost? Certainly children shouldn't have to sacrifice their health to do well in in their studies. Education should facilitate growth, both of the physical and intellectual kind. Don't you agree?

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Are you shorter than your older brother? Chances are it's his fault you're not as tall.

That's according to new research from the University College London, that found younger siblings were generally shorter than their older brothers and sisters.

There's a few different theories as to why this may be the case. One is that, in larger families, resources may be limited, so when you finally arrived there was only so much time, money or love to go around. The other, is that you were adversely affected as a fetus -- as women who have multiple pregnancies are likely to put on weight, which subsequently makes their blood sugar levels poorer and hampers their pregnancy.

But before you start making angry phone calls to your older siblings, blaming them for all your problems, remember that there are plenty of benefits to being in a larger family -- it just turns out that height isn't one of them.

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Take a walk through my great aunt's 17th-century home in England and you'll find substantial proof that people were much shorter 33 years ago. The American population has been getting steadily taller over the years ... until now. Americans are getting shorter on average every year. And it's not happening in Europe or other countries in the world -- it's just here.

What's the reason? Well, just as proper nutrition is the reason why we've been getting taller, our nutrition, or lack thereof, is to blame for the shrinking phenomenon as well. So even though we're smart enough to make huge strides in our health by improving our nutrition over time, we're stupid enough to disregard those nutritional advances in favour of junk food that in ultimately killing us. It's amazing, really. In a way, we're actually going backwards on the evolutionary scale, don't you think?

(via Diet Blog)

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Americans have historically been the tallest people in the world, but a recent paper reveals that this may not always be the case. While many European populations are getting taller with each generation, Americans, quite simply, are not.

So what could cause such a shift?

According to the team of Princeton/Munich scholars that published the paper in Social Science Quarterly, the difference is healthcare. They surmise that the universal healthcare system and greater degree of social security throughout Europe "provide better conditions for growth than the American health system, despite the fact that the system costs twice as much." The scholars also point to American diets as an additional factor.

Whatever it is, it's fairly significant. Today, the average Dutch man is 6 cm taller than the average American -- which is a complete reversal of how it was in the 19th century.

[via Boing Boing]

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The airbag is a wonderful invention, and it saves countless lives every year. But airbags can also be dangerous in their own right, because they need to deploy so quickly and with such force. It's already a well-known fact that young children are at risk for injury from airbags, but some adults are too?

A new study shows that although airbags do a good job at decreasing injuries for adults of average height, they actually increase the risk of getting hurt for very short and very tall individuals. People under 4'11" run a 4% greater risk of getting seriously hurt, and those over 6'3" run a 5% greater risk.

That's got to be stressful for people who fall into those more dangerous height ranges. Airbags come standard on most vehicles these days, so it's not like the minority of very short or very tall people have the choice to pass on that option when buying a new car.

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Tall, dark, and .... at higher risk for an enlarged prostate? Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center looked at factors like height, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipid levels in over 1200 Vietnam War veterans and compared their risk of developing an enlarged prostate, or BPH, over a period of almost 16 years. And, unfortunately for them, the tall guys got the short end of the deal (haha) by showing an increased likelihood to develop the disorder. The researchers were not necessarily surprised by these results, but what they didn't specify in the article is just how tall do they consider tall?

Regardless of height, however, the biggest factor in a man's risk for developing BPH is still the same as it always has been: getting older.

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The debate continues over whether or not being much short should be considered a disability. Dwarfism is a condition recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but that applies only to adults with a height of 4' 10" or smaller. This new debate is about people who are slightly taller than that, 4'11" to 5'3", and have what the medical community calls idiopathic ( which means unexplained) short stature, or ISS.

Children who are growing far behind the normal rates for their ages can be given human growth hormone, but treatments are extremely expensive and most insurance companies won't cover the costs since short stature is not an official disability at this point. Growth hormone supplements are generally safe and better understood now than in the past, but can only add a few inches of total height for most people, leading to a secondary debate over whether the treatment is worth the high costs.

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