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DOI 10.1007/s12565-015-0283-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Abstract The study of somatotypes has important sig- in the 50–59- and C60-year-old age groups. In females, the
nificance for medical and physical anthropology as well as differences in somatotype components appeared to be
sports science. The aim of this study was to understand the distinguished between ages (P \ 0.01 or P \ 0.05).
somatotype components of the Han population in Xi’an However, in males, there were prominent differences in
and compare the somatotypes of the Han and five other somatotype components between the 20–29 year olds and
nationalities in China. The study sample consisted of 429 all other age groups (P \ 0.01 or P \ 0.05) except for
people of Han nationality (207 males, 222 females) from between those 20–29 and C60 years old in endomorphy.
Xi’an, China, aged C20 years old. The Heath-Carter an- Compared with the other five nationalities, there were
thropometric method was employed. We evaluated the prominent differences in somatotype components between
differences in age and sex by one-way ANOVA and t test. males and females. These results suggest that the somato-
A comparison of somatotypes between the Han and other type of the Han population in Xi’an, China, has a pre-
nationalities was made using the U test. The results showed dominantly mesomorphic endomorph profile. The
that the male and female samples all could be classified as endomorphic component shows distinct differences be-
having a mesomorphic endomorph profile. The difference tween ages and genders, respectively. Additionally, there
in endomorphy was strongest between sexes in all age are distinct differences in the somatotype components be-
groups (P \ 0.01). There were prominent differences in tween Xi’an Han and five other nationalities in China in
mesomorphy and ectomorphy between males and females males and females.
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Study on adult physique with…
20–29 40 5.0-3.6-2.7 -2.3 -0.6 2.21 ± 1.06 41 5.4-3.4-2.7 -2.7 -1.1 2.17 ± 1.14
1.5-1.3-1.4 1.9-1.1-1.2
30–39 43 5.9-4.5-1.6 -4.4 1.4 2.11 ± 0.93 43 6.3-3.8-2.0 -4.2 -0.7 1.75 ± 0.79
1.5-1.3-1.2 1.3-1.1-1.0
40–49 44 5.9-4.7-1.3 -4.5 2.1 1.72 ± 0.89 49 6.8-4.4-1.6 -5.2 0.3 1.85 ± 1.00
1.3-1.1-1.0 1.1-1.4-1.1
50–59 40 5.7-4.2-1.7 -4.0 1.1 1.55 ± 0.85 46 7.2-4.6-1.2 -6.0 0.7 1.56 ± 1.08
1.1-1.0-1.0 1.3-1.1-0.9
C60 40 5.7-4.2-1.5 -4.1 1.2 1.74 ± 1.12 43 7.5-5.0-0.9 -6.6 1.5 1.72 ± 1.31
1.3-1.1-1.2 1.4-1.2-1.1
Total 207 5.6-4.2-1.8 -3.9 1.1 1.87 ± 1.00 222 6.7-4.2-1.6 -5.0 0.2 1.80 ± 1.08
1.4-1.2-1.3 1.6-1.3-1.2
Table 2 Somatotype distribution of Han males in Xi’an (%) various sex/age groups are plotted on the somato-charts for
the Han nationality in Xi’an (Fig. 1a, b).
Somatotype Age Total
20* 30* 40* 50* 60* Differences in somatotype components in each age
Ecto.Endo 7.5 2.3 0.0 5.0 0.0 2.9 group for gender
Balanced Endo 10.0 6.3 6.8 7.5 5.0 7.7
Meso.Endo 42.5 53.5 65.9 70.0 75.0 61.4
The somatotype components of males and females were
Endo-Meso 5.0 23.3 11.4 12.5 7.5 12.1
compred. The results are shown in Table 4. All somatotype
components in males remained virtually unchanged after
Endo.Meso 2.5 2.3 13.6 2.5 0.0 4.3
29 years of age, but except for ectomorphy the somatotype
Balanced Meso 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.5
components kept increasing up to C60 years in females.
Ecto.Meso 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
The ectomorphy in females appeared to decrease down to
Meso-Ecto 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.5
C60 years. The endomorphy showed statistically sig-
Meso.Ecto 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
nificant differences between sexes in all age groups
Balanced Ecto 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 1.4
(P \ 0.01). The mean value of endomorphy was sig-
Endo.Ecto 12.5 2.3 2.3 0.0 0.0 3.4
nificantly higher than those of mesomorphy and ectomor-
Ecto-Endo 2.5 4.7 0.0 0.0 2.5 1.9
phy in males and females. There were prominent
Central 10.0 2.3 0.0 2.5 2.5 3.4
differences between males and females in mesomorphy and
ectomorphy in the age groups 50–59 and C60 years.
However, there were no significant differences in meso-
supplementary data (supplementary Tables 1 and 2). An- morphy and ectomorphy between males and females in the
thropometric characteristics of males and females are age groups 20–29, 30–39 and 40–49 years.
presented in Tables 1 (endomorphy-mesomorph-ectomor-
phy, X and Y and SAM), 2 and 3. When classifying the Difference in somatotype components by age
people according to the somatotype categories (13 cate-
gories) established by Carter (Carter and Heath 1990), the The comparisons of somatotype components in each age
male somatotype focused on Meso.Endo (61.4 %), Endo- group for both genders are shown in Table 5. In females,
Meso (12.1 %) and Balanced Endo (7.7 %); that of females there were significant differences in somatotype compo-
focused on Meso.Endo (74.3 %), Balanced Endo (7.2 %) nents between the 20–29-year and all other age groups, the
and Ecto.Endo (5.4 %). Both the male and female samples 30–39-year and all other age groups, and the 40–49-year
belonged to a mesomorphic endomorphy (endomorphy is and all other age groups (P \ 0.01 or P \ 0.05), except for
dominant and the mesomorph is greater than ectomorphy) between the 40–49- and C60-year old age groups for en-
profile. The SAM indices indicate that, in both sexes and domorphy. Furthermore, there were no statistically sig-
all age groups, the sample presents a high degree of ho- nificant differences among the three somatotype
mogeneity of the somatopoints. The mean somatotypes of components between the 50–59- and C60-year-old
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L. Yang et al.
females. However, in males, there were prominent differ- endomorphy among those 30–39 and C60, 40–49 and C60,
ences in somatotype components between the 20–29-year and 50–59 and C60 years old (P \ 0.01 or P \ 0.05).
and other all age groups (P \ 0.01 or P \ 0.05), except for
between those 20–29 and C60 years old for endomorphy. Comparison of somatotypes between the Han
Otherwise, in males, there were dominant differences in and other nationalities in China
Table 3 Somatotype distribution of Han females in Xi’an (%) Tables 6 and 7 show the comparison of somatotype com-
ponents between the Han and five other nationalities in
Somatotype Age Total
China (U test) (Zheng et al. 1996; Zhu et al. 2000a, b; Zhu
20* 30* 40* 50* 60* et al. 1997; Huang et al. 2002). There were prominent
Ecto.Endo 4.9 11.6 10.2 0.0 0.0 5.4 differences in the endomorphy of males and females be-
Balanced Endo 9.8 11.6 8.2 2.2 4.7 7.2 tween the Han and five other nationalities in China, re-
Meso.Endo 48.8 62.8 77.6 91.3 88.4 74.3 spectively (P \ 0.01). There were significant differences in
Endo-Meso 4.9 7.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 2.7
the mesomorph of males between the Han and five other
Endo.Meso 0.0 2.3 2.0 2.2 0.0 1.4
nationalities except the Mongoloid and Hui, respectively.
There were marked differences in the ectomorphy of males
Balanced Meso 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
between the Han and other five nationalities, except for the
Ecto.Meso 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
Ewenki, respectively. Otherwise, there were significant
Meso-Ecto 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
differences in the mesomorphy and ectomorphy of females
Meso.Ecto 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
between the Han and Hui, as well as Zhuang, respectively
Balanced Ecto 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
(P \ 0.01). However, there were no statistically significant
Endo.Ecto 9.8 0.0 0.0 2.2 4.7 3.2
differences in the mesomorphy and ectomorphy of females
Ecto-Endo 9.8 4.7 2.0 0.0 0.0 3.2
between the Han and Mongoloid, Ewenki and Oroqen
Central 7.3 0.0 0.0 2.2 0.0 1.8
populations, respectively.
Fig. 1 Distribution of the mean somatopoints for the Han nationality in Xi’an. a Mean somatotype for age/gender groups. b Distribution of the
mean somatotype by gender
Table 4 Sex differences in the somatotype components of the Han population in the five age groups in Xi’an
Age group Endomorphy Mesomorphy Ectomorphy
Years Male Female P value Male Female P value Male Female P value
Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD Mean ± SD
20–29 5.15 ± 1.64 6.17 ± 1.51 \0.01 3.76 ± 1.22 3.52 ± 1.06 [0.05 2.52 ± 1.32 2.40 ± 1.13 [0.05
30–39 5.90 ± 1.55 6.79 ± 1.34 \0.01 4.20 ± 1.37 3.99 ± 1.03 [0.05 1.77 ± 1.24 1.84 ± 0.97 [0.05
40–49 5.66 ± 1.48 7.24 ± 1.33 \0.01 4.45 ± 1.09 4.50 ± 1.27 [0.05 1.58 ± 1.11 1.51 ± 1.02 [0.05
50–59 5.61 ± 1.29 7.61 ± 1.35 \0.01 4.43 ± 1.23 4.87 ± 1.32 \0.01 1.66 ± 1.11 1.09 ± 1.12 \0.01
C60 5.21 ± 1.39 7.42 ± 1.49 \0.01 4.46 ± 1.02 5.11 ± 1.24 \0.01 1.74 ± 1.24 0.96 ± 1.08 \0.01
Statistically significant P value (P \ 0.05)
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Study on adult physique with…
Table 6 Comparison of
Nationality n Endomorphy Mesomorphy Ectomorphy Reference
somatotype components
between the Han and five other X SD X SD X SD
nationalities in China (males)
a,b,c,d,e b,c,e a,c,d,e
(U test) The Han nationality 207 5.6 1.4 4.2 1.2 1.8 1.3
Mongoloid 255 4.0a 1.4 4.4 1.1 2.1a 1.0 Zheng et al. (1996)
b b
Ewenki 162 3.5 1.3 5.0 1.2 1.6 1.1 Zhu et al. (2000a, b)
Oroqen 85 3.3c 1.3 4.8c 1.1 2.3c 1.5 Zhu et al. (2000a, b)
The Hui nationality 180 2.7d 0.8 4.2 1.0 2.8d 1.1 Zhu et al. (1997)
e e
The Zhuang nationality 273 1.8 0.5 3.7 1.0 3.4e 0.9 Huang et al. (2002)
a
Significant difference between the Han and Mongoloid subjects (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy
[0.05; ectomorphy \0.01)
b
Significant difference between the Han and Ewenki (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy \0.01; ecto-
morphy [0.05)
c
Significant difference between the Han and Oroqen (endomorphy\0.01; mesomorphy\0.01; ectomorphy
\0.01)
d
Significant difference between the Han and Hui populations (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy [0.05;
ectomorphy \0.01)
e
Significant difference between the Han and Zhuang populations (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy
\0.01; ectomorphy \0.01)
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L. Yang et al.
Table 7 Comparison of
Nationality n Endomorphy Mesomorphy Ectomorphy Reference
somatotype components
between the Han and five other X SD X SD X SD
populations in China (Females)
(U test) The Han nationality 222 6.7a,b,c,d,e 1.6 4.2d,e 1.3 1.6d,e 1.2
a
Mongoloid 225 6.2 1.3 4.1 1.1 1.6 1.0 Zheng et al. (1996)
Ewenki 195 5.2b 1.2 4.4 1.3 1.5 1.1 Zhu et al. (2000a, b)
Oroqen 106 5.2c 1.4 4.0 1.2 1.7 1.6 Zhu et al. (2000a, b)
d d d
The Hui nationality 214 4.4 1.1 3.6 1.1 2.4 1.1 Zhu et al. (1997)
The Zhuang nationality 281 3.3e 0.9 3.2e 0.9 2.9e 1.1 Huang et al. (2002)
a
Significant difference between the Han and Mongoloid subjects (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy
[0.05; ectomorphy [0.05)
b
Significant difference between the Han and Ewenki (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy [0.05; ecto-
morphy [0.05)
c
Significant difference between the Han and Oroqen (endomorphy\0.01; mesomorphy[0.05; ectomorphy
[0.05)
d
Significant difference between the Han and Hui populations (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy \0.01;
ectomorphy \0.01)
e
Significant difference between the Han and Zhuang nationalities (endomorphy \0.01; mesomorphy
\0.01; ectomorphy \0.01)
Gender differences in Han adults the 40–49- and C60-year-old groups in the endomorphy of
males. There were no significant differences in somatotype
As shown in Table 4, we investigated the gender differ- components between the 50–59- and C60-year-old groups
ences in the somatotype components of the Han population in females. These findings are almost consistent with
in Xi’an in this study. Females tended to have significantly studies of Kalichman and Kobyliansky (2006). Further-
higher endomorphic values. There were distinct endomor- more, we observed a decrease in the mean values of en-
phic differences between males and females in all age domorphy in both sexes for those C60 years and in the
groups. The previous studies agreed that the mesomorphy mean values of ectomorphy in males C60. These findings
is higher in males and endomorphy in females in younger are in accord with those of Buffa et al. (2005) and
American individuals (Malina et al. 2005; Arce et al. Kalichman et al. Otherwise, our results showed that after
2012). The main reason is that boys may be more involved 30 years of age, the male somatotype had hardly changed.
in recreational games associated with high levels of phy- These are not quite consistent with previous results
sical activity. Vigorous activity tends to favor muscu- (Katzmarzyk and Malina 1999), but consistent with
loskeletal development. The studies by Kalichman and Kalichman and Kobyliansky (2006). We would increase
Kobyliansky (2006) reported that sex differences in so- the sample size for further research in the future.
matotypes appear to be the strongest for endomorphy, with Interestingly, our data indicated that mesomorphy and
generally higher values in females (Kalichman and ectomorphy displayed opposite age-related tendencies.
Kobyliansky 2006). Our results are consistent with these Mesomorphy increased with age in both sexes, whereas
findings (Table 4). However, interestingly, our data sug- ectomorphy tended to decrease with age in both sexes. The
gested that the differences in mesomorphy or ectomorphy previous studies of somatotype components have shown
were prominent between males and females in the 50–59- results parallel to ours in various elderly populations
and C60-year age groups, but the studies by Kalichman (Kalichman and Kobyliansky 2006; Buffa et al. 2005). This
and Kobyliansky (2006) noted no differences in meso- finding indicated that the metabolism of the body and de-
morphy and a very small difference in ectomorphy between clined with age in males. The detailed reasons also need
males and females aged 18–30 years. This may be the re- more meticulous research in the future.
sult of multiple factors, such as differences in region,
ethnicity and livestyle. Comparison of somatotype components
between the Han and other nationalities
Adult Han somatotypes change with age
The somatotype differences appear to be the strongest for
We also noted age-related patterns of somatotype change. endomorphy between the Han and other five nationalities
There were marked differences between the 20–29-year in both sexes in China. The mean endomorphic value of the
and all other age groups in both sexes except for between Han was higher than those of the other five nationalities in
123
Study on adult physique with…
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