Sex differences in heat loss responses depend on body size and not gender, meaning taller people sweat more than smaller ones during exercise in warm and tolerable conditions. This is according to new research. The body cools itself in two ways:sweating and increasing circulation of the skin's surface. Body shape and size determines which of these two is relied upon for heat loss. The study found that smaller men and women with more surface area per kilogram of body weight are more dependent on heat loss via increasing circulation and less dependent on sweating. These findings challenge the conventional belief that women and men always react differently to heat stress.
