Struggling to keep up with your long-legged walking partner? It’s not just you. New research has shown that pound for pound, taller people are more efficient walkers than shorter people.

Researchers from Southern Methodist University and the Baylor College of Medicine measured the metabolic rates of children and adults ranging in age from 5 to 32, weighing between 35 and 196 pounds, ranging in height from 3 1/2 to 6 feet.

They found that regardless of height, all walkers used the same amount of energy per pound of body weight with every stride. Taller walkers, they found, are more economical than shorter walkers because their longer strides cover the same distance in fewer steps without expending more energy.

— Markian Hawryluk, The Bulletin