Is it true that … you get shorter as you get older?

<p>Some loss of height is inevitable, but diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle can help slow the decline in bone and muscle mass as we age</p><p>‘Without a doubt, we get shorter as we age,” says Adam Taylor, professor in Anatomy at Lancaster medical school. He says that after 40, humans typically lose about a <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003998.htm">centimetre of height</a> every decade. Men lose <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4103973/">0.08-0.1%</a> of their body height per year. Women typically lose 0.12-0.14% per year.</p><p>Some of this is caused by increasingly slumped posture as we get older. People who sit or stand with a curved spine for prolonged periods of time – perhaps at their desk – may find that, over time, their spine assumes that position naturally. Older people sometimes stoop to find a more secure centre of gravity too.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/oct/06/is-it-true-that-you-get-shorter-as-you-get-older">Continue reading...</a>