ABSTRACT
Anthropometry is defined as ‘measurement of the human body’. Surface anthropometry may therefore be defined as the science of acquiring and utilising surface dimensional measurements which describe the human phenotype. Measurements of mass, stature, skeletal breadths, segment lengths, girths and skinfolds are used, either as raw data or derived ratios or predicted values to describe human size, proportions, shape, composition and symmetry. Historically, anthropometry draws from diverse disciplines including anatomy, physiology, nutrition and medicine, and the multiplicity of methodologies which prevail have caused some confusion for the exercise scientist in practice today.
