When it comes to what a man is packing down below, the general consensus is the bigger, the better. However, that’s not always the case — and certainly not according to scientists. In fact, researchers are said to be concerned after discovering that the average male penis length has grown over the past 30 years. While one might assume that’s a good thing, it actually isn’t, according to a study published in The World Journal of Men’s Health.
Stanford University urology professor Dr Michael Eisenberg went through data collected from 75 different studies on penis size dated between 1942 and 2021. In total, the manhood of 55,761 different guys were studied. Oddly enough, they discovered that average length had increased by a whopping 24% over a 29-year period. That’s impressive!
Dr Eisenberg explains that what may seem a harmless change could actually be an indication of a much bigger problem. He says that “environmental pollutants” and “increasingly sedentary lifestyles” could be behind the trend, and that’s just not healthy.
At the same time, sperm counts and testosterone levels in men have been waning, which is what led Dr. Eisenberg to launch his study in the first place. That led to the discovery that the average erect penis went from 4.8 inches to 6 inches in just under 30 years.
Average penis length has grown more than an inch
While more study is needed, he questions if exposure to chemicals in our environment and food supply or hormonal changes could explain what’s happening. “There could be a number of factors at play, such as chemical exposure, like pesticides or hygiene products, interacting with our hormonal systems,” he explained. “These endocrine-disrupting chemicals — there are many — exist in our environment and our diet. As we change our body’s constitution that also affects our hormonal milieu. Chemical exposure has also been posited as a cause for boys and girls going into puberty earlier, which can affect genital development.”
Dr Eisenberg plans to dig deeper into this discovery to determine its true significance and what it means.
“The big next step is to look at other patient populations — such as the pediatric population — to see if there are similar changes. Just as we measure height and weight every year across the U.S., this is something else we could measure in a systematic fashion, because it may turn out to be an early indicator of changes in human development,” he said. “Also, if there’s granular data on lifestyle factors or environmental exposures, we could try to understand why this may be happening. Lastly, I think it’s important to ask if there are similar changes occurring to women’s reproductive organs.”
