Cambridge scientists tested the difference by placing their hands on the ice for 3 minutes. And it’s body mass that makes a man’s hand warmer than a woman’s and a child’s.
Women and children are advised to put their hands in the pockets more because these are two less muscular subjects, doing so to generate body heat.
It is often said, “The person with cold hands is the one with a warm heart”.
However, according to scientists, women may have colder hands than men during cold times of the year.
Women and children are advised to put their hands in the pockets more because these are two less muscular subjects, doing so to generate body heat.
Cambridge University researchers tested this by asking people to put their hands in freezing water for three minutes.
Women and children are less muscular, so they are more susceptible to cold.
People with more muscle will see their hands warm up faster, based on images taken with a thermal imaging camera.
Surprisingly, experts say fat is more important in warming hands when people feel cold.
Lead author of the study, Stephanie Payne, said : “It is important to be aware of the impact of body composition on how cold your hands are. For example, women and children are low-muscle subjects, so to cope with cold weather, they need powerful support tools like gloves.”
The study by a team of biological anthropologists is the first of its kind and used 114 volunteers willing to plunge into cold water.
The study’s lead author said: “Hands have a large proportion of exposed surface areas, which can be a challenge to maintain thermal balance in cold conditions. We wanted to study the effect of muscle size. body composition and heat loss in the hand to determine whether they affect hand temperature and dexterity in cold conditions.”
Participants aged 18 to 50 include university students and locals. The trial for the first time allowed important statistics to be taken and body composition analyzed to measure fat and muscle mass.
Fat is more important in warming hands when one feels cold.
The volunteers’ hand warming rates were measured and recorded with a thermal imaging camera.
Ms. Payne, PhD student and National Geographic Young Explorer, who has studied human communities around the globe, said: “We always thought that fat (which acts as an insulator) was weak. the most important factor in thermoregulation, and it is indeed the organ that plays a very important role.
The body is a living and wonderful system that uses heat-generating muscles to keep the body warm, including the hands.”
Around the world, some communities have adapted to deal with severe cold, for example by stopping blood from reaching the hands very quickly to ensure body heat is preserved.
The Inuit have a blood circulation pulse to combat frostbite.
The study was published in the American Journal of Anthropology.