Men Have Grown Twice As Much As Women Over Past Century, Study Shows 12
According to a new study published in the journal Biology Letters, men around the world have gained height and weight twice as fast as women over the past century. The Guardian reports: "We're seeing insights into how sexual selection has shaped the male and female body and how improved environments, in terms of food and a lower burden of disease, have freed us from our shackles," said Prof Lewis Halsey at the University of Roehampton. Halsey and his colleagues used data from the World Health Organization, overseas authorities and UK records to see how height and weight have changed with living conditions. The latter was measured by the human development index (HDI), a score based on life expectancy, time in education and per capita income, which ranges from zero to one.
Analysis of records from dozens of countries found that for every 0.2 point increase in HDI, women were on average 1.7cm taller and 2.7kg heavier, while men were 4cm taller and 6.5kg heavier. This suggests that as living conditions improve, both height and weight increase, but more than twice as fast in men than women. To see whether similar trends played out within countries, the researchers delved into historical height records in the UK where HDI rose from 0.8 in 1900 to 0.94 in 2022. During the first half of the century, average female height increased 1.9% from 159cm to 162cm, while average male height rose 4% from 170cm to 177cm. "To put this in perspective, about one in four women born in 1905 was taller than the average man born in 1905, but this dropped to about one in eight women for those born in 1958," Halsey said.
Writing in Biology Letters in a study titled "The sexy and formidable male body: men's height and weight are condition-dependent, sexually selected traits," the scientists speculate that women's sexual preferences may have fueled a trend for taller, more muscular men -- although in an age of obesity, heavy does not necessarily mean muscular. Stature and physique are prime indicators of health and vitality, Halsey said, while sexual selection also favors men who are better able to protect and defend their partners and offspring against others. "Women can find men's height attractive because, potentially, it makes them more formidable, but also because being taller suggests they are well-made," said Halsey. "As they've grown up, they haven't been affected by the slings and arrows of a bad environment, so they've reached more of their height potential. It's an indicator that they're well-made."
Analysis of records from dozens of countries found that for every 0.2 point increase in HDI, women were on average 1.7cm taller and 2.7kg heavier, while men were 4cm taller and 6.5kg heavier. This suggests that as living conditions improve, both height and weight increase, but more than twice as fast in men than women. To see whether similar trends played out within countries, the researchers delved into historical height records in the UK where HDI rose from 0.8 in 1900 to 0.94 in 2022. During the first half of the century, average female height increased 1.9% from 159cm to 162cm, while average male height rose 4% from 170cm to 177cm. "To put this in perspective, about one in four women born in 1905 was taller than the average man born in 1905, but this dropped to about one in eight women for those born in 1958," Halsey said.
Writing in Biology Letters in a study titled "The sexy and formidable male body: men's height and weight are condition-dependent, sexually selected traits," the scientists speculate that women's sexual preferences may have fueled a trend for taller, more muscular men -- although in an age of obesity, heavy does not necessarily mean muscular. Stature and physique are prime indicators of health and vitality, Halsey said, while sexual selection also favors men who are better able to protect and defend their partners and offspring against others. "Women can find men's height attractive because, potentially, it makes them more formidable, but also because being taller suggests they are well-made," said Halsey. "As they've grown up, they haven't been affected by the slings and arrows of a bad environment, so they've reached more of their height potential. It's an indicator that they're well-made."
Nutrition and "Natural" Selection. (Score:3)
At first glance there seem to be (at least) two drivers for this IMHO:
Less men die so women have a larger pool of men to select from. Since evolution has them tend towards bigger stronger men, they get the boost.
Likewise women die less too, enlargening the pool of women to select from. Since men tend to choose women smaller / more petite than themselves, this is another evolutionary driver that solidifies the height gap.
A third point would be nutrition. Early plentiful nutrition is proven to enhance body mass and height. Nutrition has improved over most of the last century also causing this.
Sex (and so gender) is a spectrum of features (Score:2)
First, an introduction to biology you must understand (if you already know what transcription factors, genetic variants, and DNA mutations are, and understand what DNA is, how it makes proteins, and how enzymes or proteins work. you can skip this part):
DNA and How It Works
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for life. Found in the nucleus of almost every cell in the human body, DNA is composed of two long strands forming a double helix. Each strand is made up of
Re: (Score:2)
*NF-kB
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Spamming LLM garbage should be an automatic death sentence.
Interesting (Score:3)
It always amuses me when I hear women biatch about the fact that "all men are a-holes!", completely ignoring the fact that this is sexual selection by prior generations of women being expressed in modern males.
If you don't want a-holes, stop doinking them?
Well... (Score:2)
I mean, to an extent yeah, of course? But past a certain point you get to where the guy starts looking intimidating and threatening to you, like he could crush you on a whim. Fear of domestic violence is surely a selective factor as well, and IMHO not well enough appreciated.
Also, IMHO, most straight men really overestimate how much of attraction is appearance-focused, and if they ha
I am only 5 foot 10 (Score:2)
Oh goody, more bad science reporting (Score:2)
The obvious question that comes up for me in this survey is, did they correct for the possibility that men actually have it better than women, and that's why men grew more? E.g., did they check heights of women in countries where women's rights are better? I'm not saying the result is wrong, but I didn't see any reporting that answers this question, and it was the obvious question that occurred to me. E.g. in some countries included in the survey, women take a huge caregiving burden on average compared to m
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I see the contrary; the article is more honest reporting than everything in the last decade or so. You see, every difference is a result of an evil social construct run by (white) men. I am not trolling; this is the official position about everything in our society. At every level.
Any other explanation, particularity one that is rooted in (evolutionary) biology is cancelled. Often with violence. Anywhere in the western academia including the biology departments.
In fact, I fully expected the article to claim