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

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

‘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 centimetre of height every decade. Men lose 0.08-0.1% of their body height per year. Women typically lose 0.12-0.14% per year.

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.