Let’s say we have a man and a woman of the same height and weight. To maintain their current weight they have a recommended calories intake. Why is the mans intake slightly higher (about 300kcal) than the womans?
In: Biology
Humans are a [sexually dimorphic species](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism) meaning that male and females of the species have difference characteristics to one-another. [*”The average basal metabolic rate is about 6 percent higher in adolescent males than females and increases to about 10 percent higher after puberty. Females tend to convert more food into fat, while males convert more into muscle and expendable circulating energy reserves. Aggregated data of absolute strength indicates that females have, on average, 40–60% the upper body strength of males, and 70–75% the lower body strength.”*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism#Humans)
Basically, men have on average more muscle than women and tend to be taller, which means you have multiple factors that influence the need for calories to continue regular functions in the body.
If you had a person with the exact same physical attributes as another person of a different gender, down to the muscle mass, daily activity, etc, you’d see very little difference in caloric requirements between them.
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