Do you know (or admit to) your real height?

[moriah]

It may seem like an odd question, but I have a reason for asking it. I participate in a group that attempts to help give names to the unidentified dead in our country. A lot of this involves searching missing person's reports, etc, and attempting to match on vital statistics.

If you have a driver's license or state ID, does it have your actual measured height? Have you had your height measured recently, and did it differ from what you thought it was or what you put on your license?

In particular, if you are overly tall or overly short, did you "cheat" on your DL by listing an inaccurate height?

I cheated by listing 4'11 instead of 4'10 and 3/4. Hah.

[Droopy]

1. I'm 5'9 and 3/4"

It says I'm 5'10" on my license. That's close enough. I don't know if they put fractions on Ohio driver's licenses anyway.

[moriah]

2. Hehhe....

What I'm trying to figure out is if it's common to have an incorrect height on your driver's license.

Or, in cases where a person doesn't have a handy ID profile to make a missing person's report from.... how many people know their mom's exact height?

[Droopy]

3. Well, I recently had a physical exam done so I really know

My mom says she's 5'2" and I'd say that's pretty accurate, but I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what it is.

[Chan790]

11. Generally, height is a poor identifier. IMO

Most people don't know their correct height; it's difficult to correctly measure the height of a person whose height differs greatly from your own by eyesight even with the correct tools and training; and as many as 50% of all people either lie to be closer to the mean or round off fractions of an inch which shouldn't be rounded-such. i.e. 5'6 48/100" should probably be rounded to 5'6 1/2" (if possible) or 5'6' rather than 5'7". Most people are not that precise or really want that extra 1".

I know how tall I am exactly due to the need for an exact measurement. (Marfan's may run in my family (it would explain a lot of unexplainable early deaths prior to the widespread-knowledge of the condition within the medical community.) and exact measurements of limb-length-to-height ratio are vital to early detection.) I am 6'3 7/8" tall with average length arms for my height. I've been measured by nurse-practitioners and doctors for my yearly physical everywhere between 6'1" and 6'5". Every year I have to correct them.

My parents (well...my mother and my stepfather) both claim to be 5'7", there is clearly a 2" difference between them standing side-by-side.

I have medical records or my grandparents that list heights that could not possibly be correct. I know that people shrink as they age but grandma was clavicle-height on me and her doctor says she was 5'6". Grandpa, who was clearly taller, is listed as 5'5".

Then there are the outright lies. In HS, the football coach rostered my brother at 5'10" and 135lbs to make him seem more average to opposing team's scouts (He ran a 4.3 40 and they wanted to trick teams into covering him with a larger-and-slower defensive-back). He was actually 6' even and about 90lbs. It seems like a lot of difference but it's hard to tell in pads.

Based on only my own anecdotal evidence, I'd say somewhere around 80% of all recorded heights for individuals are incorrect.

[av8rdave]

4. I'm 6' 0"

Have been for the past 30 years. Had to check my drivers license, but sure enough it's there.

[dawgmom]

5. Certainly -- but I wouldn't trust the weight most people list

I'd never lie about my height -- but my goal in life is to someday actually weigh what it says on my driver's license. ;)

[Lyric]

6. I'm 5'6" and a little over a half, so I just say 5'7"

:)

[BlueJazz]

7. People are taller after a nights sleep. ...Also people are shorter...

..as they age.

[NightWatcher]

8. yep, I'm 6'6'', but I've also thought about a tattoo for id's sake

I heard about young men that were doing this in Iraq after Saddam and it sounded like a good idea if I ever got mixd up in any more craziness. As far as "dental records" go, I havent had a regular dentist for some time and each dentist I see only takes regional xrays.

Dental records joke: If they cant ID my body, how the hell would they know who my dentist is?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. 5'8".

My hair can add an inch or two, though. ;)

[surrealAmerican]

10. That's not cheating.

It's generally understood that they put your height to the nearest inch on your driver's license. It doesn't need to be more accurate than that. If you told them to the quarter of an inch, they would round it off anyway.

[Deep13]

12. Basically.

5'11.5" in fact.

6' claimed and in fact with shoes.

[kentauros]

13. No recent measurement, but it's not far off: 6'-1"

Everyone but my mother is tall in my family.

My DL lists the same height.

[mcctatas]

14. I round up

so instead of 5'3 1/2 I am 5'4