The size of human beings has increased over the past century thanks to better health and nutrition — but this change has not occurred equally among men and women, a new study shows
Men have grown taller and heavier at more than twice the rate of women, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters.
The researchers from Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom analyzed data provided in 2003 by the World Health Organization on the height and weight of more than 100,000 people across 69 countries. The study authors also used data from the Human Development Index (HDI), which measures national levels of human well-being.
The team found that each 0.2 increase in the HDI saw an increase in height of approximately 1.68 centimeters (0.66 inches) for women and 4.03 centimeters (1.59 inches) for men, as well as an average weight gain of 2.70 kilograms (5.95 pounds) for women and 6.48 kilograms (14.29 pounds) for men.
The trend was also confirmed by assessing data from the World Bank’s Gini Index, which measures national levels of income inequality, for 58 countries between 2000 and 2006.
Higher inequality was associated with decreases in height and weight. Each unit increase in Gini was associated with an average reduction in height of approximately 0.14 centimeters in women and 0.31 centimeters in men, and an average weight decrease of approximately 0.13 kilograms for women and 0.39 kilograms for men, according to the study.
While it could be thought that more developed countries could also simply have ethnic populations that are genetically taller, “we think that isn’t the case,” said study coauthor and environmental physiologist Lewis Halsey, a professor at the University of Roehampton who leads the Roehampton University Behaviour and Energetics Lab in London.
This is because the researchers found a similar trend when looking at a compilation of adult height data from just one country: the UK.
By analyzing the heights of 49,180 men and women between the ages of 23 and 26 from several UK studies published between 1905 and 1958, they found that women’s average height increased by 0.25 centimeters every five years, while that of men increased by 0.69 centimeters.
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