Asian and European men saw largest increases to penis size in past 3 decades, study finds
By Carl Samson
Asian and European men saw the world’s largest increases in average penile length in the past three decades, a new study by a team of international scientists has found.
The researchers analyzed the results of 75 studies since the 1940s that measured erect penises in laboratory settings around the world. Data from a total of 55,761 men were then adjusted for age, geographic region and subject population.
They found that the world’s average erect penis size grew from 12.27 centimeters (approximately 4.8 inches) in 1992 to 15.23 centimeters (approximately 6 inches) in 2021.
That’s a 24% increase over a 29-year period.
However, the growth was not shared equally by men across all continents. The analysis showed that Asian and European men saw increases, while North American men saw no change.
“The trend for increasing erect penile [length] was seen in Asia and Europe,” Dr. Michael Eisenberg of Stanford Medicine’s Urology Department told NextShark. “We did not find a [significant] change in North America. The caveat is that we were limited by the available studies.”
Eisenberg has expressed concerns about the trend, saying it could be a sign of a major shift in the human body, particularly the reproductive system.
Possible factors include exposure to chemicals in pesticides and hygiene products, which interact with hormones.
“The increase happened over a relatively short period of time. Any overall change in development is concerning, because our reproductive system is one of the most important pieces of human biology,” Eisenberg told Scope, Stanford Medicine’s blog.
“If we’re seeing this fast of a change, it means that something powerful is happening to our bodies. We should try to confirm these findings and if confirmed, we must determine the cause of these changes.”
Other potential causes are earlier onset of puberty and improved nutrition in Asia and Europe in the past decades.
A sedentary lifestyle and obesity may also play a role, the scientists wrote.
Still, it must be pointed out that the study is limited to a minute fraction of the world’s male population, which as of 2021 was estimated at 3.97 billion. The female population, on the other hand, was estimated at 3.92 million.
The study, titled “Worldwide Temporal Trends in Penile Length: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” is published in the World Journal of Men’s Health. The full paper is available here.
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