For generations, 37°C (98.6°F) has been widely accepted as the normal human body temperature.
However, scientific research suggests that the average temperature of the human body has gradually decreased over the past 150 to 200 years.
Why is average human body temperature decreasing?
The team analysed more than 677,000 body temperature measurements collected from three groups of people in the United States between 1860 and 2017.
The findings indicated that average body temperature had declined by approximately 0.03°C per birth decade.
For generations, 37°C (98.6°F) has been widely accepted as the normal human body temperature. However, scientific research suggests that the average temperature of the human body has gradually decreased over the past 150 to 200 years. Studies examining historical medical records and modern temperature measurements have found that people today tend to have slightly lower average body temperatures than previous generations.
Instead, researchers believe that changes in healthcare, living conditions, infection rates and human metabolism may have contributed to the shift.
Why is average human body temperature decreasing?
One of the major studies examining this trend was published in the journal eLife in 2020 by researchers from Stanford University. The team analysed more than 677,000 body temperature measurements collected from three groups of people in the United States between 1860 and 2017.
The findings indicated that average body temperature had declined by approximately 0.03°C per birth decade. The researchers observed that people born more recently tended to have lower temperatures than those born in earlier generations.
