ABSTRACT
The words “constitution” and “physique” have often been used interchangeably in the literature; recently, however, they have acquired connotations which effectively discriminate the one from the other. Thus Pearl (1933) has defined the modern concept of “constitution” as depending on, and being determined by, “the present functional condition (tonus and balance) and state of activity of the endocrine system, the autonomic nervous system, the vascular and vasomotor system, the central nervous system”. These in turn he considered to be dependent upon “the physical chemistry of the blood, and the innate degree of perfection (biological worth) of the anatomical structure in general, and of each particular organ, and the age of the individual”. Physique or habitus, on the other hand, is “used in the sense of bodily configuration, somatic structure, or somatic organization, and refers to one aspect of an individual’s constitution” (Betz, 1942). Thus physique is a subordinate concept, while constitution is the supraordinate.
