The shorter a woman's legs, the more likely she is to have liver damage, with both most likely the result of diet or other factors early in life, according to British researchers.

The findings of study of 3,600 women dovetailed with other studies linking leg length with diabetes and heart disease, Abigail Fraser of the University of Bristol and colleagues said.

"Adult liver function is affected by early life environmental exposures as reflected in leg length, and this may suggest common childhood influences on liver development and adult risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease," they wrote.

Fraser's team looked at women aged 60 to 79 who were taking part in a larger health study. They measured their leg length as compared to trunk length and also measured four liver enzymes: alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase.

"Each of these markers reflects a different aspect of potential liver damage," they wrote in their report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Leg length can point to how well a person was nourished in early childhood.

"In particular, evidence shows that breast-feeding, high-energy intake at four years and childhood affluent socioeconomic position are all associated with longer adult leg length," Fraser's team wrote.

The findings held even when Fraser's team took into account smoking, drinking and other behaviors that can damage a person's liver.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)