Methods of anthropometry are, first of all, a set of measuring measures aimed at determining the conformity of a personās physical development with standards, provided that a healthy lifestyle is maintained, and that there are sufficient physical exertion. Anthropometric techniques are mainly based on the consideration of morphological external and quantitative indicators. However, there are also a number of studies aimed at determining the parameters of internal organs and indicators of body systems.
Why is anthropometry required?
Assessing others, we ask ourselves why people are so different from each other in a number of external parameters. The reason for the presence of characteristic differences lies not only in genetic inclinations, but also in worldview, especially in thinking and character.
Human existence presupposes a course of successive processes of maturation, maturity and aging. Development and growth are interdependent, closely related processes.
The method of anthropometry is an effective tool for determining the conformity of some development parameters to the standards specific to a particular age period of a person. Based on this, the main purpose of the method lies in identifying the developmental features of both a child and an adult, mature person.
Anthropometric Research Factors
The continuous flow of metabolic processes in the body, the conversion of energy becomes a determining factor, which affects the features of development. As the method of anthropometry shows, the rate of change of circles, mass and other parameters of the body in individual periods of human formation are not identical. However, this can be judged clearly without resorting to scientific research. It is enough to remember oneself in preschool, young and mature age.
Indicators of body weight, growth, increase in the volume of certain parts of the body, proportions are part of the program laid down in each of us from birth. In the presence of optimal conditions for the development of the organism, all these indicators change in a certain sequence. However, there are many factors that can affect not only the violation of the sequence of development, but also lead to the appearance of irreversible changes of a negative nature. It should highlight:
- External factors - social conditions of existence, improper intrauterine development, lack of rational nutrition, non-compliance with the regime of work and rest, the presence of bad habits, environmental factors.
- Internal factors - the presence of serious diseases, negative heredity.
Basics of Anthropometric Research
The fundamentals of the method of anthropometry are a set of scientific studies on measuring the parameters of the human body, which originated in the middle of the last century, when scientists became interested in the laws of variability of individual anthropometric indicators.
Considering the data of anthropometry, for example, the length of the body and limbs, the features of growth, weight change, transformation of the circumference of body parts, there is an opportunity for a visual assessment of the rate of physical development of a person.
Carrying out anthropometry allows you to make a general idea regarding physical development. Such representations are obtained in the process of performing several basic measurements:
- body length;
- body weight
- chest girth.
Anthropometry conditions
Anthropometry methods are measurements based on the use of adjusted, proven measuring mechanisms. Here, centimeter tapes, scales, height meters, dynamometers, etc. are most often used.
Anthropometric studies are usually performed on an empty stomach in the morning. In this case, the subjects should be dressed in light shoes and clothes. For an anthropometric estimate to be as close to reality as possible, careful observance of the measurement rules is required.
Analysis of the compliance of the necessary indicators of physical development with specific standards is the most important element on which anthropometry is based. The research template allows you to identify risk factors, signs of abnormal development and the presence of certain diseases. Therefore, a correct assessment of the results of anthropometry can help establish a direction for a healthy lifestyle and healthy development.
Below is a template for anthropometry in kindergarten:
No. | Last name, first name of the child | Health group | Height | Weight |
Autumn | Spring | Autumn | Spring |
1 | | | | |
2 | | | | |
3 | | | | |
The template is filled with data for each pupil of a certain group of kindergarten. Here are the columns with the childās FI, information about the health group, height and weight data for individual seasons.
Body length measurement
The most common procedure is anthropometry of children. Conduct it subject to the availability of a whole range of measuring instruments. Measurement of growth indicators in a standing position. For this, specialized stadiometers are used. The examinee is placed on the deviceās platform, leaning his back against the measuring stand in a natural vertical position. A horizontal sliding bar is applied to the childās head without excessive pressure, the position of which corresponds to a certain gradation on the measuring scale.
It is imperative that children's anthropometry be carried out in the morning, because closer to evening, a personās height decreases by an average of about 1-2 centimeters. At the root of the phenomenon is the presence of natural fatigue, a decrease in the tone of the muscular apparatus, compaction of the cartilaginous vertebrae, and flattening of the foot as a result of stress during walking.
A number of genetic factors, age and gender differences, and health status are reflected in the indicators of the length of the human body. Growth can both correspond to a personās age, and significantly differ from an acceptable norm. Thus, insufficient body length in accordance with certain age limits is called nanism, and a noticeable excess of growth is called gigantism.
Mass measurement
Anthropometry of children and adults when measuring weight is carried out using special floor scales. When measuring weight, an acceptable error is considered to be a deviation from actual indicators of not more than 50 g.
Compared to body length, weight indicators are quite unstable and can vary due to the presence of a wide range of factors. For example, the weight fluctuation in an average person per day is about 1-1.5 kg.
Anthropometric determination of human somatotype
There are separate somatotypes, the definition of which is engaged in anthropometry. Patterns for kindergarten, elementary and higher educational institutions, as well as for persons of puberty allow mesosomatic, microscopic, and macroscopic somatotypes to be distinguished. The assignment of an individual to one of these somatotypes is based on the sum of the values āāof the scale when measuring weight, body length and chest circumference.
Somatotype is most often determined by anthropometry in kindergarten. It is at the initial stages of development that one can obtain the most reliable results that correspond to the characteristics of one or another type of body structure. So, with a sum of up to 10 points according to the above parameters, the structure of the childās body is classified as a microscopic type. A sum of 11 to 15 points indicates a mesosomatic structure. Accordingly, a high score of 16 to 21 indicates a macrosomatic type of structure of the childās body.
Determining the degree of developmental harmony
It is possible to declare a harmonious development of the body structure of the child based on the results of anthropometric studies only if the difference in the indicators of mass, chest circumference, and body length does not exceed unity. If the average difference between these indicators is two or more, in this case, the development of the childās body is considered disharmonious.
Anthropometric research technique
Currently, a rather simple technique is used with which anthropometry is performed. Templates for kindergarten and primary educational institutions allow you to quickly perform research to obtain results with a slight error.
Usually anthropometric studies of the structure of the child are carried out by nurses. However, as in the case with other scientific methods, anthropometry requires the observance of certain conditions, the presence of which, along with special skills, ensures the accuracy and correctness of the results.
The main conditions for technically correct anthropometry are:
- conducting research in accordance with a unified methodology for all subjects;
- performance of measuring measures by one specialist using the same technical base;
- conducting studies at one time for all subjects, for example, in the morning on an empty stomach;
- the subject should have a minimum of clothing (usually light underwear or cotton clothing are allowed).
Eventually
Anthropometric studies are of particular importance, in particular when examining children, since they allow timely identification of patterns of child development in accordance with certain age and physical requirements. Moreover, the results of anthropometric studies provide an idea not only about the rate of development of body parameters, but can also tell about the beginnings of certain diseases.
During anthropometric studies, it is important not to forget about the universality of the values āāof body parameters. Until recently, an assessment of the health of a child was often carried out on the basis of the compliance of height and body weight with tabular requirements. However, this approach is fundamentally wrong. In particular, a whole group of factors, such as body type, heredity, etc., is reflected in a sharp change in body weight. That is why it is not worth making decisive conclusions about the state of health on the basis of anthropometry, because only special tests aimed at identifying a specific disease can confirm the existing assumptions.