This Is Why Men Are Taller Than Women

Best for you, JAKARTA - On average, men tend to be about 5 inches (13 centimeters) taller than women. As reported by LiveScience, heig...

Best for you, JAKARTA - On average, men tend to be about 5 inches (13 centimeters) taller than women.

As reported by LiveScience, height is a complex trait influenced by many factors. One of them is genetics: genes on sex-linked chromosomes and autosomal chromosomes help determine height. Each baby receives two sets of chromosomes: 23 from their mother and 23 from their father.

Two of these chromosomes are sex chromosomes: Women typically have XX and men usually have XY. Parents often contribute genes consistent with their own characteristics, so taller parents will usually have taller children than shorter parents.

Studies on identical twins have found that about 80% of height is heritable, meaning approximately 80% of the differences in height can be attributed to genetics. However, it is difficult to distinguish which specific genes influence height.

"Height is a well-known polygenic trait," said Alexander Berry, a bioinformatics scientist at Geisinger College of Health Sciences in Pennsylvania, according to Live Science.

This means that many genes are involved. Height can vary greatly based on thousands of genes influencing it across the genome. "Genome-wide association studies examining height have found matches across the genome," said Berry.

A 2022 paper published in the journal Nature identified 12,111 locations in the genome where a single nucleotide—G, A, T, or C in the DNA sequence—varies and is significantly associated with height. One of the most extensively studied genes associated with height is called SHOX, which is located on the X and Y chromosomes.

Berry said SHOX is estimated to account for about 25% of the average 5-inch difference in height between men and women. He added that variants of the gene where SHOX loses its function on the X or Y chromosome can lead to significantly reduced height. For example, Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis, a genetic disorder caused by a mutated SHOX gene, affects bone growth and results in short stature.

Another place to investigate height differences is in individuals with sex chromosome aneuploidy, or an unusual number of chromosomes, such as XXX or XXY. In a paper published in May 2025 in the journal PNAS, Berry and her team studied 928,605 individuals using data from three biobanks.

From this group, 1,225 individuals experienced sex chromosome aneuploidy. In these individuals, researchers studied how gene dosage or the number of genes affects these sex chromosomes.

Other hormones also contribute to growth. Human growth hormone comes from the pituitary gland, which stimulates growth in children. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) mediates the effects of human growth hormone, with both reaching their peak during puberty.

However, in the story of hormones and height, "estrogen is the star," said Holly Dunsworth, an anthropology professor at the University of Rhode Island, to Live Science. Produced in both males and females during puberty, estrogen "is the major driver of long bone growth," she said.

In terms of bone growth, estrogen works in two phases. The first phase involves a growth spurt in height. During the second phase, there is eventually so much estrogen that the bones harden, or fuse, says Dunsworth. Once estrogen production peaks during adolescence, their bones harden. Estrogen production peaks earlier in females compared to males, who continue to grow.