YET another survey says short men have a hard time.
Nicolas Herpin of The National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies in Paris says, "With identical education attainment, tall men still have better careers than short men as they get greater supervisory responsibilities."
They are said to earn more money and father more children and a dating agency reports young ladies in search of romance want chaps closer to six foot than five foot six.
Most American presidential races are won by the tallest candidate. Short chaps are usually figures of fun in television comedy: think Basil Fawlty and Manuel, Blackadder and Baldrick. The world, it seems, is heightest.
When I was growing up (don't laugh), the only time I found being short a disadvantage was when I had a teenage girlfriend who was taller than me in her stocking feet. To kiss me, she had to sit down or stand me on a wall.
Mind you, I was particularly popular with the opposite sex at one wild party in the Swinging 60s where we all decided it would be a good idea to swap clothes. Like you do. I had my pick of partners and chose a young lady of similar height in a trouser suit. We exchanged outfits and looked perfectly normal while six foot Gerry looked a prize prat in a minidress designed for Twiggy.
I didn't find being five foot six a disadvantage playing football either; in fact, very tall players sometimes didn't realise I was there until I took the ball off them.
They take size a lot more seriously in America than they do in Europe, which is probably something to do with their bigger and better mentality.
You know, like the Texan boasting to the Englishman that you could get on a train in east Texas on Monday morning, head due west, and still be in Texas at sunset on Tuesday.
To which the Englishman replied, "We have trains like that in Britain."
Or the American boasting to a Moroccan that Paul Bunyan was the greatest lumberjack the world had ever seen.
Amir said, "You're wrong. Ibrim Hassan was the world's greatest lumberjack."
"I've never heard of him."
"He was the famous lumberjack of the Sahara Forest."
"Don't you mean the Sahara Desert?"
"NOW it's a desert."
In America, short men have paid up to £50,000 to get their limbs lengthened by up to four inches. The process involves fitting metal pins into a patient's legs and tightening them over several weeks to pull the bones apart.
Not for me.
You can still be happy, successful or even famous if you are short.
Danny De Vito is five feet tall as were philosopher Immanuel Kant, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and slavery campaigner William Wilberforce.
John Keats was five foot one, Yuri Gagarin five foot two, the Marquis de Sade five three and Baby Face Nelson five five. Horatio Nelson was a shade under five six, just like Dustin Hoffman. Al Pacino and Tom Cruise are five seven.
Besides, short men can dance better than tall men, they have more energy and women can wear their clothes.
So ladies, don't sell yourself short with a tall bloke - choose a chap who is neat and petite. As well as a lover, you get a whole new wardrobe.
