Anthropometry (from Greek anthropos, "human", and metron, "measure") refers

to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used
for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation,
in paleoanthropology and in various attempts to correlate physical with racial and psychological
traits. Anthropometry involves the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the human
body, primarily dimensional descriptors of body size and shape. [1]
Today, anthropometry plays an important role in industrial design, clothing design, ergonomics and
architecture where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are
used to optimize products. Changes in lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations
lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions (e.g. the obesity epidemic), and require
regular updating of anthropometric data collections.

History[edit]

A Bertillon record for Francis Galton, from a visit to Bertillon's laboratory in 1893

Main article: History of anthropometry

The history of anthropometry includes and spans various concepts,
both scientific and pseudoscientific, such as craniometry, paleoanthropology, biological
anthropology, phrenology, physiognomy, forensics, criminology, phylogeography, human origins,
and cranio-facial description, as well as correlations between various anthropometrics and personal
identity, mental typology, personality, cranial vault and brain size, and other factors.
At various times in history, applications of anthropometry have ranged vastlyfrom
accurate scientific description and epidemiological analysis to rationales for eugenics and
overtly racist social movementsand its points of concern have been numerous, diverse, and
sometimes highly unexpected.

Individual variation[edit]
Auxologic[edit]
Main article: Auxology
Auxologic is a broad term covering the study of all aspects of human physical growth
Height[edit]
Main article: Human height

Human height varies greatly between individuals and across populations for a variety of complex
biological, genetic, and environmental factors, among others. Due to methodological and practical
problems, its measurement is also subject to considerable error in statistical sampling.
The average height in genetically and environmentally homogeneous populations is often
proportional across a large number of individuals. Exceptional height variation (around 20%
deviation from a population's average) within such a population is sometimes due
to gigantism or dwarfism, which are caused by specific genes or endocrine abnormalities.[2]
In the most extreme population comparisons, for example, the average female height in Bolivia is
142.2 cm (4 ft 8.0 in) while the average male height in the Dinaric Alps is 185.6 cm (6 ft 1.1 in), an
average difference of 43.4 cm (1 ft 5.1 in). Similarly, the shortest and tallest of individuals, Chandra
Bahadur Dangi and Robert Wadlow, have ranged from 1 ft 9 in (53 cm) to 8 ft 11.1 in (272 cm),
respectively.[3][4]
Weight[edit]
Main article: Human weight
Human weight varies extensively both individually and across populations, with the most extreme
documented examples of adults being Lucia Zarate who weighed 4.7 pounds (2.1 kg), and Jon
Brower Minnoch who weighed 1,400 pounds (640 kg), and with population extremes ranging from
109.3 pounds (49.6 kg) in Bangladesh to 192.7 pounds (87.4 kg) in Micronesia.[5][6]
Organs[edit]
Adult brain size varies from 974.9 cm3 (59.49 cu in) to 1,498.1 cm3 (91.42 cu in) in females and
1,052.9 cm3 (64.25 cu in) to 1,498.5 cm3 (91.44 cu in) in males, with the average being
1,130 cm3 (69 cu in) and 1,260 cm3 (77 cu in), respectively.[7][8] The right cerebral hemisphere is
typically larger than the left, whereas the cerebellar hemispheres are typically of more similar size.
Size of the human stomach varies significantly in adults, with one study showing volumes ranging
from 520 cm3 (32 cu in) to 1,536 cm3 (93.7 cu in) and weights ranging from 77 grams (2.7 oz) to 453
grams (16.0 oz).[9]
Male and female genitalia exhibit considerable individual variation, with penis size differing
substantially and vaginal size differing significantly in healthy adults.[10][11][12]

Aesthetic[edit]
Main articles: Human physical appearance and physical attractiveness
Human beauty and physical attractiveness have been preoccupations throughout history which often
intersect with anthropometric standards. Cosmetology, facial symmetry, and waisthip ratio are three
such examples where measurements are commonly thought to be fundamental.

Evolutionary science[edit]
Anthropometric studies today are conducted to investigate the evolutionary significance of
differences in body proportion between populations whose ancestors lived in different environments.
Human populations exhibit climatic variation patterns similar to those of other large-bodied
mammals, following Bergmann's rule, which states that individuals in cold climates will tend to be
larger than ones in warm climates, and Allen's rule, which states that individuals in cold climates will
tend to have shorter, stubbier limbs than those in warm climates.
On a micro evolutionary level anthropologists use anthropometric variation to reconstruct small-scale
population history. For instance John Relethford's studies of early 20th-century anthropometric data
from Ireland show that the geographical patterning of body proportions still exhibits traces of the
invasions by the English and Norse centuries ago.

Measuring instruments[edit]
3D body scanners[edit]
Today anthropometry can be performed with three-dimensional scanners. A global collaborative
study to examine the uses of three-dimensional scanners for health care was launched in March
2007. The Body Benchmark Study will investigate the use of three-dimensional scanners to calculate
volumes and segmental volumes of an individual body scan. The aim is to establish whether
the Body Volume Index has the potential to be used as a long-term computer-based anthropometric
measurement for health care. In 2001 the UK conducted the largest sizing survey to date using
scanners. Since then several national surveys have followed in the UK's pioneering steps, notably
SizeUSA, SizeMexico, and SizeThailand, the latter still ongoing. SizeUK showed that the nation had
become taller and heavier but not as much as expected. Since 1951, when the last women's survey
had taken place, the average weight for women had gone up from 62 to 65 kg.

Baropodographic[edit]
Main article: Baropodography
Example insole (in-shoe) foot pressure measurement device

Baropodographic devices fall into two main categories: (i) floor-based, and (ii) in-shoe. The
underlying technology is diverse, ranging from piezoelectric sensor arrays to light refraction,[13][14][15][16]
[17]
but the ultimate form of the data generated by all modern technologies is either a 2D image or a
2D image time series of the pressures acting under the plantar surface of the foot. From these data
other variables may be calculated (see data analysis.)
The spatial and temporal resolutions of the images generated by commercial pedobarographic
systems range from approximately 3 to 10 mm and 25 to 500 Hz, respectively. Finer resolution is
limited by sensor technology. Such resolutions yield a contact area of approximately 500 sensors (for
a typical adult human foot with surface area of approximately 100 cm2).[18] For a stance phase
duration of approximately 0.6 seconds during normal walking,[19] approximately 150,000 pressure
values, depending on the hardware specifications, are recorded for each step.

Neuroimaging[edit]
See also: Neuroimaging
Direct measurements involve examinations of brains from corpses, or more recently, imaging
techniques such as MRI, which can be used on living persons. Such measurements are used in
research on neuroscience and intelligence. Brain volume data and other craniometric data are used
in mainstream science to compare modern-day animal species, and to analyze the evolution of the
human species in archeology. With the discovery that many blood proteins vary consistently among
populations, followed by the discovery of the DNA code, the invention of the polymerase chain
reactionthat amplifies trace amounts of DNA, and the decoding of the human genome,
phylogeographers largely switched away from craniofacial anthropometry whenever DNA is
available.[citation needed]

Epidemiology and medical anthropology[edit]

Anthropometric measurements also have uses in epidemiology and medical anthropology, for
example in helping to determine the relationship between various body measurements (height,
weight, percentage body fat, etc.) and medical outcomes. Anthropometric measurements are
frequently used to diagnose malnutrition in resource-poor clinical settings.

Forensics and criminology[edit]

An early set of finger- and handprints by Sir William Herschel, 2nd Baronet (18331917)

Further information: Forensic anthropology and anthropological criminology

Forensic anthropologists study the human skeleton in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can
assist in the identification of a decedent through various skeletal analyses that produce a biological
profile. Forensic anthropologists utilize the Fordisc program to help in the interpretation of
craniofacial measurements in regards to ancestry/race determination.
One part of a biological profile is a person's racial/ancestral affinity. People with considerable
European ancestry generally have relatively no prognathism; a relatively small face; a narrow, tearshaped nasal cavity; a "silled" nasal aperture; tower-shaped nasal bones; a triangular-shaped
palate; and an angular and sloping eye orbit shape. People with considerable African ancestry
typically have a broad and round nasal cavity; no dam or nasal sill; Quonset hut-shaped nasal
bones; notable facial projection in the jaw and mouth area (prognathism); a rectangular-shaped
palate; and a square or rectangular eye orbit shape. People with considerable East Asian ancestry
are often characterized by a relatively small prognathism; no nasal sill or dam; an oval-shaped nasal
cavity; tent-shaped nasal bones; a horseshoe-shaped palate; and a rounded and non-sloping eye
orbit shape.[20] Many of these characteristics are only a matter of frequency among particular races:
their presence or absence of one or more does not automatically classify an individual into a racial
group.

Ergonomics[edit]
Main article: Human factors and ergonomics
Today, ergonomics professionals apply an understanding of human factors to the design of
equipment, systems and working methods in order to improve comfort, health, safety, and
productivity. This includes physical ergonomics in relation to human anatomy, physiological and bio
mechanical characteristics; cognitive ergonomics in relation to perception, memory, reasoning, motor
response including humancomputer interaction, mental workloads, decision making, skilled
performance, human reliability, work stress, training, and user experiences; organizational
ergonomics in relation to metrics of communication, crew resource management, work design,
schedules, teamwork, participation, community, cooperative work, new work programs, virtual
organizations, and telework; environmental ergonomics in relation to human metrics affected by
climate, temperature, pressure, vibration, and light; visual ergonomics; and others. [21][22]

Biometrics[edit]
Iris recognition system based on pattern matching

2009 photo showing a man having a retinal scan taken by a U.S. Army soldier

Main article: Biometrics

Biometrics refers to the identification of humans by their characteristics or traits. Biometrics is used
in computer science as a form of identification and access control.[23] It is also used to identify
individuals in groups that are under surveillance. Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable
characteristics used to label and describe individuals. [24] Biometric identifiers are often categorized as

physiological versus behavioral characteristics.[25] Example applications

include dermatoglyphics and soft biometrics.

United States military research[edit]

The US Military has conducted over 40 anthropometric surveys of U.S. Military personnel between
1945 and 1988, including the 1988 Army Anthropometric Survey (ANSUR) of men and women with
its 240 measures. Statistical data from these surveys encompasses over 75,000 individuals. [26]

Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry

Resource ProjectCAESAR[edit]
CAESAR began in 1997 as a partnership between government and industry to collect and organize
the most extensive sampling of consumer body measurements for comparison. The project collected
and organized data on 2,400 U.S. & Canadian and 2,000 European civilians and a database was
developed. This database records the anthropometric variability of men and women, aged 1865, of
various weights, ethnic groups, gender, geographic regions, and socio-economic status. The study
was conducted from April 1998 to early 2000 and included three scans per person in a standing
pose, full-coverage pose and relaxed seating pose. Data collection methods were standardized and
documented so that the database can be consistently expanded and updated. High-resolution
measurements of body surfaces were made using 3D Surface Anthropometry. This technology can
capture hundreds of thousands of points in three dimensions on the human body surface in a few
seconds. It has many advantages over the old measurement system using tape measures,
anthropometers, and other similar instruments. It provides detail about the surface shape as well as
3D locations of measurements relative to each other and enables easy transfer to Computer-Aided
Design (CAD) or Manufacturing (CAM) tools. The resulting scan is independent of the measurer,
making it easier to standardize. Automatic landmark recognition (ALR) technology was used to
automatically extract anatomical landmarks from the 3D body scans. Eighty landmarks were placed
on each subject. More than 100 univariate measures were provided, over 60 from the scan and
approximately 40 using traditional measurements. Demographic data such as age, ethnic group,
gender, geographic region, education level, and present occupation, family income and more were
also captured.[27][28]