--- title: Average American Man's Body Compares to Those Around The World description: "When you look at the images side-by-side, you can really see the differences" canonical: https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-31T21:08:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:26.206Z og:title: How The Average American Man's Body Compares to Others Around The World og:description: "When you look at the images side-by-side, you can really see the differences" og:url: https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How The Average American Man's Body Compares to Others Around The World twitter:description: "When you look at the images side-by-side, you can really see the differences" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How the Average American Man's Body Compares to Others Around The World > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=309342de-8116-443b-ba52-32f3d4c90e9f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Are You Man Enough? The Truth About Low Testosterone [Watch (HLS stream): Are You Man Enough? The Truth About Low Testosterone](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pG2ZyJXa.m3u8) (4:35)  _Published 2014-07-31. Low-T drugs marketed to help men get their mojo back are having a moment, but are they safe?_ by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 31, 2014 9:08 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 31, 2014 9:08 PM UTC Pittsburgh-based digital artist [Nickolay Lamm](http://nickolaylamm.com/) was on vacation in Catalonia, Spain, last year when he noticed something. “I think I’m being objective when I say that a lot of the people were just very fit,” he says. At least more fit than what he saw back home. And so Lamm decided to dive into body measurement statistics collected by organizations like the [CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/bodymeas.htm) to create models that represent the physique of the average man from different countries. “Basically, I wanted to represent how we as a country are a little overweight when it comes to other countries,” he says. “Obesity is a huge issue, it costs our health care industry so much money, so I just wanted to create a simple way to illustrate something people probably know in the back of their minds, they just haven’t seen it all laid out so clearly.”  Nickolay Lamm While the images first went public [last year](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/average-american-male-body%5Fn%5F4080007.html), they are making their [rounds online](http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/31/artist-nickolay-lamm-shows-how-mens-bodies-differ-around-the-world-4928730/) [again](http://elitedaily.com/news/world/average-man-looks-like-around-world/820215/) — right in time for Halloween. (A time when body image is at the back of people’s minds.)  Nickolay Lamm “When you look at the images side-by-side, you can really see the differences,” Lamm says.  Nickolay Lamm  Nickolay Lamm  Nickolay Lamm Lamm doesn’t know why exactly these images resonate with an audience, but people always seem surprised. “We see all these numbers and statistics,” he says, “but sometimes we just want to see it laid out.”  Nickolay Lamm The artist is perhaps best known for [creating the anti-Barbie.](http://time.com/12786/the-new-barbie-meet-the-doll-with-an-average-womans-proportions/) The soon-be-released [Lammily](https://www.lammily.com) doll is based on the average American woman’s proportions, rather than unattainable measurements that would make it hard for a [real woman to walk or even just exist.](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/06/barbie-lead-designer-blames-moms-not-dolls-crazy-proportions-for-girls-body-issues/) He also hopes to create a male version of the doll after the product goes to market. Lamm does note that scrutiny regarding body image is often directed toward women rather than men. “It’s interesting, I remember I was at a bar once and guys were comparing all the other women, but they kind of look like the images I made,” he says. “Who are we to judge when we aren’t looking perfect either.” ## Transcript How do assess low T? A man comes into the office. Is there a symptom score, a checklist, a way of determining that if you start out today with low T and I give you something, in three months, do you not have low T? Those metrics, those measures, don't exist, and that's the problem with the field currently. Yeah we can raise your testosterone, but does it mean anything. [ CROSSTALK ] Low testosterone. [ CROSSTALK ] Be the best you can be. [ MUSIC ] LowT and whatever that is, that's, that's a pharmaceutical. That's not even a medical term. That's somebody in the marketing, in the back office of a marketing department said okay let's come up with low T it sounds interesting. To me it was just very tired all the time, lethargic. I just never had the energy to put in a days work. And then be able to workout like I used to and a simple shot. Could just bring me back to normal the way, you know. I used to have the energy and stamina and everything that I had before. [ MUSIC ] This is a growing industry now. There's much more awareness of low- T now. And I also think. it's, they're realizing it's so common, so many men of all different ages need the replacement therapy. The transformation is amazing and, and I, and I say that to them that I promise and they're like wow, promise is a big word. I'm like. You ask any of my guys here I have 200 very happy guys here. Hey guys. Do you know your testosterone levels? You should. Yeah what is the optimal level. That's a great way of asking it and unfortunately I don't even have a good way of answering that question. Well there are no levels per say per age. I get that question a lot. Like what should my level be? We think that the higher it is, the better it is, but we don't know. How high is good enough? I don't know. Are you a man who feels like you're losing your edge? Are you getting all you can from your workouts? Are you satisfied with your romantic life? We're often going a see a guy's gonna come in. Big belly, smoking, doesn't exercise, and he says, you know doc, I want some testosterone cuz I don't really feel that drive. And I can give him testosterone from today til tomorrow. It ain't gonna work so good unless the guy changes his diet and begins to do physical activity. So it's not like, here's a prescription, and it's gonna be magic tomorrow. And I think there's this. Unfortunate notion that you take this testosterone and don't change other things of your life and all of the sudden, boom, magic, like, you're gonna be twenty years old. You don't change what the libido is or the fatigue is. We don't really have good measures of okay, did this work? They gave you the testosterone, did you feel better? That's not what the FDA looks at. They look at whether the testosterone levels went up. And we know how you can boost your strength training, sex drive, and performance to the levels you've been wanting. We run a men's center and out of every hundred men that come in and say I want testosterone. I have low T, I have this problem. Only about 18 % of them actually get testosterone. Because a lot of them have other issues. I would say less than one percent of the guys who come in, or maybe one percent who come in for evaluation don't qualify, because they're too high for whatever reason. But it's rare. Very rare, that a man doesn't qualify. There are patients who have testicular failure for a variety of reasons. There are patients who have pituitary failure, for a variety of reasons. Some medical reasons that can actually occur that can change hormones in the body. That's not the person who's coming in and said I saw that ad on TV. Part of it unfortunate is driven by FARMA Now I can go 30 45 minutes on, on a treadmill, or on a elliptical. And it's just like, it's nothing. So I don't think it that's necessarily a miracle, I'm just sort of getting back to doing normal things that that I wouldn't necessarily have the energy for. How long do they stay on treatment? Ideally they should stay on their whole lives. There's a lot of, what I would say, hocus pocus out there. And people unfortunately buy a lot of this stuff. And they're not gonna really feel better. You know, initially maybe they will, because everything's going to make them feel better, because they expect to feel better. There is no magic [ INAUDIBLE ] out there. If there was, everybody would take it and everybody would benefit from it. 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