--- 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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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## 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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/"},"headline":"How the Average American Man's Body Compares to Others Around The World","datePublished":"2014-10-31T21:08:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:26.206Z","description":"\"When you look at the images side-by-side, you can really see the differences\"","url":"https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","society","viral","Body Image"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3551742/average-american-man-body-comparison-photos/","name":"How the Average American Man's Body Compares to Others Around The World"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Are You Man Enough? 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