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Age differences in somatotypes of Garhwali males 17–60 years of age
Author(s) -
Gaur Rajan,
Singh Rakshak Pal
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6300(1997)9:3<285::aid-ajhb1>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - somatotypes , anthropometry , hum , demography , age groups , psychology , multivariate analysis of variance , medicine , art , machine learning , sociology , performance art , computer science , art history
Changes in somatotype with age were investigated in a cross‐sectional sample of 400 Garhwali men from northwest India. The subjects, 17‐60 years of age, were somatotyped with the Heath‐Carter anthropometric protocol. The overall mean somatotype was 3.0‐3.7‐3.1. A one‐way MANOVA indicated significant differences among the nine age groups. Pairwise comparisons using Hotelling's T 2 showed significant differences between men up to 29 years and those over 30 years. Garhwali men 30+ years of age were more endomorphic and less ectomorphic than younger men. The mean somatotype for men 30+ years was 3.3‐3.9‐2.7 and for men <30 years was 2.8‐3.3‐3.9. Endomorphy and mesomorphy increased with age with a reciprocal decrease in ectomorphy up to 55 years; the trend was somewhat reversed thereafter. The somatotype categories mesomorphic ectomorph and mesomorph‐ectomorph included the greatest proportion of Garhwali men <30 years; maximum percentages of men 30+ years belonged to the mesomorph‐endomorph, endomorphic mesomorph and mesomorphic endomorph categories. Garhwali men were more ectomorphic and less endomorphic and mesomorphic than Canadians. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:285–290, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.