Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Halsey, LG; Careau, V; Pontzer, H; Ainslie, PN; Andersen, LF; Anderson, LJ; Arab, L; Baddou, I; Bedu-Addo, K; Blaak, EE; Blanc, S; Bonomi, AG ...
Published in: J Hum Evol
October 2022

In mammals, trait variation is often reported to be greater among males than females. However, to date, mainly only morphological traits have been studied. Energy expenditure represents the metabolic costs of multiple physical, physiological, and behavioral traits. Energy expenditure could exhibit particularly high greater male variation through a cumulative effect if those traits mostly exhibit greater male variation, or a lack of greater male variation if many of them do not. Sex differences in energy expenditure variation have been little explored. We analyzed a large database on energy expenditure in adult humans (1494 males and 3108 females) to investigate whether humans have evolved sex differences in the degree of interindividual variation in energy expenditure. We found that, even when statistically comparing males and females of the same age, height, and body composition, there is much more variation in total, activity, and basal energy expenditure among males. However, with aging, variation in total energy expenditure decreases, and because this happens more rapidly in males, the magnitude of greater male variation, though still large, is attenuated in older age groups. Considerably greater male variation in both total and activity energy expenditure could be explained by greater male variation in levels of daily activity. The considerably greater male variation in basal energy expenditure is remarkable and may be explained, at least in part, by greater male variation in the size of energy-demanding organs. If energy expenditure is a trait that is of indirect interest to females when choosing a sexual partner, this would suggest that energy expenditure is under sexual selection. However, we present a novel energetics model demonstrating that it is also possible that females have been under stabilizing selection pressure for an intermediate basal energy expenditure to maximize energy available for reproduction.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

J Hum Evol

DOI

EISSN

1095-8606

Publication Date

October 2022

Volume

171

Start / End Page

103229

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Mammals
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Energy Metabolism
  • Body Composition
  • Anthropology
  • Animals
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Halsey, L. G., Careau, V., Pontzer, H., Ainslie, P. N., Andersen, L. F., Anderson, L. J., … Speakman, J. R. (2022). Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females. J Hum Evol, 171, 103229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103229
Halsey, Lewis G., Vincent Careau, Herman Pontzer, Philip N. Ainslie, Lene F. Andersen, Liam J. Anderson, Lenore Arab, et al. “Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females.J Hum Evol 171 (October 2022): 103229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103229.
Halsey LG, Careau V, Pontzer H, Ainslie PN, Andersen LF, Anderson LJ, et al. Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females. J Hum Evol. 2022 Oct;171:103229.
Halsey, Lewis G., et al. “Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females.J Hum Evol, vol. 171, Oct. 2022, p. 103229. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103229.
Halsey LG, Careau V, Pontzer H, Ainslie PN, Andersen LF, Anderson LJ, Arab L, Baddou I, Bedu-Addo K, Blaak EE, Blanc S, Bonomi AG, Bouten CVC, Bovet P, Buchowski MS, Butte NF, Camps SGJA, Close GL, Cooper JA, Das SK, Cooper R, Dugas LR, Ekelund U, Entringer S, Forrester T, Fudge BW, Goris AH, Gurven M, Hambly C, Hamdouchi AE, Hoos MB, Hu S, Joonas N, Joosen AM, Katzmarzyk P, Kempen KP, Kimura M, Kraus WE, Kushner RF, Lambert EV, Leonard WR, Lessan N, Martin CK, Medin AC, Meijer EP, Morehen JC, Morton JP, Neuhouser ML, Nicklas TA, Ojiambo RM, Pietiläinen KH, Pitsiladis YP, Plange-Rhule J, Plasqui G, Prentice RL, Rabinovich RA, Racette SB, Raichlen DA, Ravussin E, Reynolds RM, Roberts SB, Schuit AJ, Sjödin AM, Stice E, Urlacher SS, Valenti G, Van Etten LM, Van Mil EA, Wilson G, Wood BM, Yanovski J, Yoshida T, Zhang X, Murphy-Alford AJ, Loechl CU, Luke AH, Rood J, Sagayama H, Schoeller DA, Westerterp KR, Wong WW, Yamada Y, Speakman JR. Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females. J Hum Evol. 2022 Oct;171:103229.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Hum Evol

DOI

EISSN

1095-8606

Publication Date

October 2022

Volume

171

Start / End Page

103229

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Mammals
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Energy Metabolism
  • Body Composition
  • Anthropology
  • Animals