The human race ‘has peaked’ and we could soon start going backwards, scientists warn

For centuries, human beings have been steadily getting taller, healthier and stronger – but we might have just ‘peaked’, scientists have warned.

Experts analysed 120 years of information, and concluded that we may have hit limits for height, lifespan and physical strength.

There might be a ‘hard limit’ that we cannot surpass – and in some countries, factors such as climate change may mean humanity actually ‘goes backwards’.

In others, we’ll see more and more people reaching the limits of human performance, but no one exceeding current milestones for lifespan and physical performance, the report in Frontiers in Physiology warns.

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‘These traits no longer increase, despite further continuous nutritional, medical, and scientific progress,’ said Professor Jean-François Toussaint from Paris Descartes University, France.

‘This suggests that modern societies have allowed our species to reach its limits. We are the first generation to become aware of this.

‘This will be one of the biggest challenges of this century as the added pressure from anthropogenic activities will be responsible for damaging effects on human health and the environment.’

‘Human height has decreased in the last decade in some African countries; this suggests some societies are no longer able to provide sufficient nutrition for each of their children and maintain the health of their younger inhabitants,’

‘The current declines in human capacities we can see today are a sign that environmental changes, including climate, are already contributing to the increasing constraints we now have to consider.’