More than 100 years of data suggest that men grow and weigh twice as fast as women.

A gender specialist at the University of Genoa, Italy, a psychologist at the University of Missouri, USA, and a behaviorist at the University of Roehampton, UK, have discovered that men grow taller and grow twice as fast. women. In their study published in Biology lettersResearchers analyzed a century of data in the World Health Organization database and found evidence of increasing sexual dimorphism in humans.

Previous research has shown that sexual size dimorphism exists in many species: in many, males are larger, due to competition for mates or female preferences. In others, females are larger, usually for reproductive reasons. In humans, males are on average larger, more muscular and heavier than females. Previous research has shown that the height difference was likely due to men fighting over women, with taller men tending to win such battles in the past.

In the modern era, such battles appear to be less important, even as males continue to grow. Some scientists have suggested that this is because women prefer to mate with larger men. For this new study, the researchers looked at sexual size dimorphism in humans over the past century.

The researchers accessed the WHO database containing information on millions of people since 1900. They analyzed data from around 135,000 people from 62 countries around the world and found that both men and women Women have become taller and heavier due to improvements in their diet and health. care. They were also able to compare height and weight ratios between men and women. They found that males became twice as large and heavier than females.

Researchers note that such a rapid increase in height and weight in males has some disadvantages, mainly due to health problems. Tall men tend to be more likely to develop cancer, for example. They also have to eat more to maintain their stature, which can lead to cardiovascular problems.

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