(Just) Tall

there was an artcle today about higher risk of prostate cancer for taller men. It looks like they don’t really know what the cause is, but suspect it has something to do with growth hormones or fatty diets in infancy or the toddler years.

“We do not believe that height itself matters in determining risk of prostate cancer or prostate cancer progression, but we speculate that factors that influence height may also influence cancer and height is therefore acting as a marker for the causal factors.”

One factor could be the production of a hormone, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), which is known to be involved in prostate cancer progression.

“A diet rich in fat and calories, especially at a young age, could also affect this hormone,” Dr Zuccolo said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/2674945/Tall-men-at-higher-risk-of-prostate-cancer-scientists-find.html

An article in Monday’s Star Of Mysore tells of a 12 year old boy who’s vertical growth was stopped at 7′3″. 

Last week for the first time since Tom could walk we met a 2 year old taller than Tom. I asked his nanny the same question people ask me: How tall is he? How old is he? Is he tall?

His nanny said “he’s really tall. he eats well, and his parents are really tall.” 

Common ground, I thought. “how tall?”

“extremely tall. his dad’s like 6′3″, and his mom’s like 5′10″.

Now that I’ve been around a person who actually is ‘really tall’, my standard for tall-terminology has … well, I have standards now. And 6′3 is not ‘really tall.’

My standards for men’s height terminology:

6′1″ – 6′4″ = tall
6′5″ – 6′7″ = really tall
6′8″ + = extremely tall

A few years ago the waiter at a Chinese restaurant asked Aaron how tall he was, while we were all standing. He asked “you’re so tall! what are you, six feet?” We still laugh about that…

About that “too tall” business – as the mother of a boy who will be in that “extremely tall” category, I have no idea what “too tall” is. I guess for that 12 year old it was 7′3″, or the fear of being 8′ tall… I’ve heard of people giving their height-challenged children hormones to make them taller, but this article was the first I’ve heard of doctors trying to hold some one’s height back. It seems like scary business, but I can empathise with parents wanting a good and convenient and healthy life for their child.

 An article in the UK newspaper the Telegraph tells of two brothers who were refused children’s meal because of a height limitation. The un-named Chinese restaurant uses a height cut-off rather than an age cut-off to decide who can have a children’s meal. As the mother of a tall child, and a person with common sense, this seems like a bogus and discriminatory way to decide who gets a children’s meal.

Here is a chart showing legroom on airlines.
http://www.cheapflights.com/travel-tips/legroom-guide/

If the trip is short enough, the train is a better way to go. There is more leg room and shorter lines.

USA today has an article about the leg room in cars vs SUVs and vans. They say that a lot of cars actually have more leg room than larger vehicles.

The average entry-level compact car has 42.1 inches of front legroom, while the average full-size van has 40.6. Some of the biggest SUVs, such as Hummer H2 and Ford Excursion, have less front legroom and headroom than the Scion xB compact car from Toyota.

They also discuss who automakers are designing for

Automakers design the front seat to accommodate a person as tall as 5 feet, 11 inches. About 95% of U.S. drivers are that height or shorter. But that means that drivers over 6 feet tall often can’t get the seat to slide back far enough to feel comfortable.

And they give a tip for how to get a customized car, if you are tall and want to be comfortable in a car that was designed for a 6′ or shorter person.

Professional basketball players have had legroom problems for years, and a few custom auto shops on the West and East coasts cater to them.

One is 310 Motoring in Los Angeles, owned by NBA player Chris Mills, which often pulls out a car seat and builds a longer track so that it can slide back to accommodate tall drivers.

The last time Aaron and I flew coach we boarded right behind the people sitting in front of us. The woman sitting in front of Aaron made a comment about how tall he is as we scooted around them. We sat down and his knees were, of course, pushed out and smashed by the seat in front. Then, as soon as the light went out signaling that it is OK to recline, the woman in front of Aaron reclined her seat as far as possible, turning my husband into a pretzel.

I remember when flying was fun; when I got off the plain the person I was visiting would be at the gate waiting for me, it only took about 15 minutes to get from car to gate and the airline workers were pleasant and engaging.

Now flying is like a cross between being admitted to jail and a trip to the DMV. The airlines skimp on leg room, food, oxygen and pleasantries. (The flight attendants make it clear that they are there to teach us about seat-belt safety and not to make us comfortable.) And there is no need to describe the inconvenience of getting to the gate.

The airlines and terminals treat us like a heard of beef cows. But we can try in our small way to make up for this by showing consideration for the folks around us. And to a large extent we do. Passengers are friendly to each other. But when it comes to reclining, we act like we’re trying to squeeze that last bit of value out of our ticket. All of us know that the farther we recline the less comfortable the guy behind us will be, but we want that extra room.

Next time you recline, take a courtesy look at the person behind you. Just a nice little “Is this OK?” would go a long way towards improving the flight of someone else, and might even make their day. And maybe the person in front of you will show you the same courtesy. Wouldn’t that be nice!

I wanted a car with good mileage to replace my worn out Geo Metro (which, by the way, Aaron did fit into both leg and head wise). We tried one hybrid that claimed to have good leg room but the dash was too low, so really it just had good foot-room, not good knee room (which is the important part of leg room). I’m sure there are hybrid cars with good leg room, we just didn’t test those ones. We ended up with the Chevy Cobalt which has worried out well. It doesn’t feel too big to me, and has plenty of room for him. The mileage in the city is a little disappointing but the freeway mileage is good.

We ordered some long sleeve tall button-up shirts from JC Penny online. The colors looked too bright online, but they are actually very nice and professional. And most importantly the sleeves are long enough!! We recommend them.

This is a web site for tall men who are tired of wearing clothes that are too wide, of banging their knees on cars, of sitting in airplane seets with no leg room, and of being asked ‘how tall are you?’

My husband is 6′9″ but not overweight, and getting clothes that are tall enough but that don’t have room for an extra person width-wise is more difficult than it should be. When I wanted a new car with good milage, finding one that had adequate knee room for him took some work. And when we fly, getting that exit row seat is not easy…

I wanted a one stop spot where tall folks (and those who love them) could find and give eachother tips. I hope this is helpful to you, and if you know of a good store, or have a tip, please share it!