Scientists discover men are evolving twice as quickly as women making them 'more sexy and formidable'
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Men appear to be evolving at double the rate of women, according to a major new analysis. Researchers found that improved living conditions, such as better food, healthcare and fewer stressors, have resulted in men increasing in height and weight at faster rates, which carries on through generations.
![[The team said their findings among men aligned with the evolutionary theory where traits like height in men are thought to signal health and strength, such as the horns of certain animals]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/20/73895875-14314073-The_team_at_Washington_University_in_St_Louis_developed_a_comput-a-6_1737577657439.jpg)
Women, however, have not seen the same evolution, suggesting they are not as sensitive to environmental factors. The study - which is titled 'The sexy and formidable male body: men’s height and weight are conditfion-dependent, sexually selected traits - looked at the height and weight of more than 135,000 people across 62 countries from 2003 World Health Organization (WHO) data.
Experts compared the data to a measure of national levels of human well-being —the human development index (HDI) to see if factors in their environments played a role. Individuals living in countries with low HDI scores are more likely to suffer from infectious diseases, chronic poor nutrition and larger overall disease burden than are individuals living in countries with high HDI scores.
Researchers found that for every 0.2 increase in HDI, men grew by 1.5 inches and gained 14 pounds of muscle. The team said their findings among men aligned with the evolutionary theory where traits like height in men are seen as signals of health and strength, thus making them more attractive to potential mates.
'Consequently, this is why men assess the formidability of potential opponents using physical cues, such as upper body strength, and women find taller, muscular men with a relatively large overall body mass (but not obese) particularly attractive,' the researchers wrote.
