Men marry younger women to have more grandchildren

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

London, Dec 5 (UNI) It's not incredible, but still ponderable -- men like marrying younger women so that they can have more granchildren.

A new research shows that men prefer marrying even 15 years younger women in order to pass on their genes to further generations.

The study published today in the journal Biology Letters, provides evidence that men prefer young women due to their high fertility while women prefer older men due to their wealth and high social status, which make them good providers for the offspring, the Telegraph reported today.

Although this idea has been around for a long time, few studies have been done to show that this is true and have demonstrated with more and healthier children as the result.

Dr Samuli Helle from University of Turku, Finland has found the answer with the help of a study of the nomadic Sami (indigenous people from northern Europe).

After examinig the past records of three Sami populations from 17th to 19th century, who depended on reindeer herding, fishing and hunting for their livelihood, the researchers noted the possible medical progress on the number and life span of Sami men who married only once.

They found that the men maximised their '' evolutionary fitness'' - ability to pass on their genes to future generations - by marrying women who were 14.6 years younger, and vice versa.

''Those men had the highest number of offspring surviving to adulthood,'' said Dr Helle.

''Young Sami women were the most fertile and had the highest reproductive value, whereas older Sami men had acquired enough skills needed for successful hunting, fishing and reindeer herding and, most importantly, wealth to be good providers for the progeny and thus desirable mates,'' he added.

UNI

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