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LONDON — 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 by the World Health Organization on the height and weight of more than , 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 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.
The team found that each 0. 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. This is because the researchers found a similar trend when looking at a compilation of adult height data from just one country: the UK.
Halsey puts the difference in the rate at which men and women are getting taller down to sexual selection. In the past, taller, heavier men would tend to be stronger, enabling them to outcompete other men, gaining more access to women and passing on their tall genes, he said. The researchers found that the variation in height among individuals of the same sex was lower in countries with better living conditions.
