Follow @CanoeLifestyle

The shorter you are, the greater your odds of living a long life, Hawaiian researchers say.

The researchers found shorter men — those 5-foot-2 and under — are more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOX03, which can lead to a longer lifespan. Shorter men are also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and reduced risk of cancer.

"This study shows for the first time, that body size is linked to this gene," researcher Bradley Willcox of the University of Hawaii said in a press release. "We knew that in animal models of aging. We did not know that in humans."

The study was based on the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program, which was started in 1965 with 9,006 American men of Japanese ancestry born between 1900 and 1919, and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study.

Approximately 1,200 men from the study lived into their 90s and 100s, and approximately 250 of those men are still alive today.

The study was published in the journal Plos One.