# Does obesity make you shorter?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 21, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970 "2016-06-21T18:07:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970/1 "2016-06-21T18:07:01Z")

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I mean so if an obese adult loses a significant amount of weight, does it impact their height one way or another?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970/2 "2016-06-21T18:25:01Z")

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Not unless you had a lot of fat on the bottom of your feet.

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970/3 "2016-06-21T18:29:03Z")

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My height remained the same from obesity to non-obesity. One thing that could have an impact is posture. People carrying large amounts of weight tend to sag and hunch over, so someone who lost a lot of weight might stand up straighter and appear to be taller.

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**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-obesity-make-you-shorter/757970/4 "2016-06-21T19:03:22Z")

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> [@SpoilerVirgin](#):
>
> My height remained the same from obesity to non-obesity. One thing that could have an impact is posture. People carrying large amounts of weight tend to sag and hunch over, so someone who lost a lot of weight might stand up straighter and appear to be taller.

I agree with this. I’m 40lbs lighter than I was a few years ago, and my posture has improved quite a bit.