New research explains why men are taller than women

And they’re still getting taller

Men are taller on average than women. Researchers have finally figured out what’s behind those few extra centimetres.

It’s impossible to keep track of all the theories and wives' tales we’ve been told about the things that determine our height. 

Is your boyfriend 6’5 because of family genetics, the amount of milk he drank as a child, or is it simply something in the water?

Men are taller than women on average, with Australian men measuring at around 5’10 tall, while the average Australian woman is around 5’5, according to Cleveland Clinic. 

Researchers from Geisinger College of Health Sciences believe they’ve found a genetic answer for some men’s extra height.

How genes affect our height

In their new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team examined the genetic data of one million people from the US and UK. 

It’s estimated that genes contribute to 80 per cent of our height, and a gene located on both X and Y chromosomes, called SHOX, is associated with height.

Image: Pexels

The researchers wanted to determine if this gene could function differently when it’s on a Y or X chromosome.

People born male have an X and a Y chromosome, while those born female have two X chromosomes, so the team looked into whether an extra chromosome could boost a person’s height, accounting for the differences between men's and women’s average heights.

Of the million of people’s genetic data examined, the experts found more than 1200 people born with a missing or extra X or Y chromosome. 

The researchers concluded that an extra Y chromosome contributed to people being taller more than an extra X did. Image: iStock

They looked into data from people with conditions such as Turner syndrome, which involves females being born with only one X chromosome, and causes short stature, and Klinefelter syndrome, which causes males to be born with an extra X chromosome and is linked to a taller stature. 

The researchers concluded that an extra Y chromosome contributed to people being taller more than an extra X did.

The study’s senior author, genetics researcher Matthew Oetjens explained that the SHOX gene affects men slightly more than women because it is in a position to be fully active on both the X and Y chromosomes in men, while it is almost silenced on one of women’s X chromosomes

Men have also simply grown more than women recently. Image: Pexels

The researchers believe this is behind around a quarter of the average difference between men's and women’s heights.  

Men have grown faster than women in recent years

Men have also simply grown more than women recently. 

Another study, published in Biology Letters earlier this year, analysed data from dozens of countries around the world and found that in the last century, men’s height increased by 4cm when living conditions improved, while women shot up by just 1.7cm. 

Women also grew 2.7kg heavier with the improved conditions, while men got 6.5kg heavier.

Originally published as New research explains why men are taller than women