Regular men are naturally more muscular and taller than women. But this is not a contemporary incident, it developed with a gradual evolutionary process. This has been seen over the years- the surprising physical change in men worldwide. A new study added more to it and uncovered an interesting revelation.

Over the past century, men have gained height and weight at a rate twice as fast as women. There’s a stark disparity in height and weight between men and women, but what are the causes? This study narrows down on them.

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Men grow taller in improved living conditions

The research was conducted by Prof. Lewis Halsey and his team at the University of Roehampton. They examined data from multiple countries, looking at how height and weight changes over the past century correlate with living conditions. They also used the Human Development Index (HDI) to assess the living conditions. HDI involves life expectancy, education, and income levels to understand living conditions. With the improvement in living conditions, men and women grow both taller and heavier but this change is more predominant in men.

The study showed that for each 0.2 point increase in HDI, the average height of women increased by 1.7 cm and their weight by 2.7 kg, whereas men grew 4 cm taller and gained 6.5 kg. It is important to note that the environment is crucial in physical development, for both men and women, but especially for men.

Understanding role of sexual attraction

Taller and muscular men are deemed sexually attractive, and they may even have been preferred over their counterparts by women. Study author Prof. Halsey said, “Women can find men’s height attractive because, potentially, it makes them more formidable, but also because being taller suggests they are well-made,”

So to sum it up in simple words, the study explored sexual size dimorphism (SSD), the difference in size between males and females, which in humans generally shows men as taller and heavier. This size disparity isn’t random but deeply rooted in evolutionary reasons.

Larger men have a kind of advantage as they may be seen as stronger, which could signal better protection, a trait subconsciously preferred by women. However, being larger also makes men more vulnerable to environmental stressors like poor nutrition and disease, as bigger bodies are more affected by such challenges.

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