Researchers in India have embarked on a project to estimate the average penis size of close to half a billion men. Why, you may ask? It seems public health officials are concerned with the 15 percent failure rate for condoms in India. Their claim: One size does not fit all.
We are not short of research on penis size. A recent search on MEDLINE, the National Library of Medicine's search engine, found over 100 studies on the subject. Here are just a few:
- The Department of Urology, University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, measured 80 American men, determining an average size of 4 inches flaccid and 5.8 inches erect.
- Physicians at the Department of Urology, University of Florence, Italy found that penis dimensions are highly correlated with height and weight in a study involving 3,300 men. By the way, the Italian men measured up to the Californians.
- Apparently young men in Germany often complain of condoms falling off, whereas older German men do not. Doctors at the Department of Urology, University of Essen, compared 111 men ages 18 to 19 years old with 32 men ranging in age from 40 to 68. They found the older men had longer flaccid lengths (4.1 inches vs. 3.9 inches) and greater circumference, but virtually the same erect length.
Indian officials will use new technology for their study. A digital photo will be taken and a computer will calculate size. Results will be sent to the World Health Organization in hopes of modifying the specification currently used for condoms.
"The idea is to have two to three optimal sizes and shapes of condoms, which could cover the population," said Sujoy Kumar Guha professor at the Department of Biomedical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
