HISTORY

KINANTHREPORT XVIII:2 November 2005

 XVIII:2 November 2005

K I N A N T H R E P O RT 2 0 0 5
XVIII:2 November 2005

Newsletter of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry

President’s Corner 4
Growth spurts 7
ISAK office-bearers 9
Coming conferences 10
Coachspeak 14
ISAK Level 4 anthropometrists 15
Second Iranian course 16
ISAK manual — Spanish version 18
New Zealand course 19
Book review: Obesity Prevention and Public Health 20
A short history of protocols 24
 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Dear Colleagues

2005 is rapidly drawing to a close and plans are well under way for our next meet-
ing in early March in Melbourne, Australia, associated with the pre-Commonwealth
Games conference. ISAK has been allocated it own stream and the papers submit-
ted for presentation look interesting. As part of the conference programme, Lindsay
CARTER will be offering a certification course on photoscopic somatotyping with a
view to at least forestalling the potential extinction of certified photoscopic raters.
This course will involve some pre-course learning, two in-conference sessions and
some post-course learning and assessment. If you are interested in joining the
course, contact Lindsay by email and he will be able to provide more-detailed infor-
mation. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for those whose accreditation will
expire in 2006, particularly Level 3s, to do their re-accreditation practical exam.

Three weeks ago, I made a lightning visit to Canberra to conduct a short ISAK
Manual workshop and some re-accreditation prac exams for sport scientists working
at Institutes of Sport throughout Australia. These young scientists are all involved
with testing and monitoring national athletes of one sort or another and it was a real
pleasure to spend a little time with them and note both their ability, their level of
critical thinking and their enthusiasm. It was also a pleasure to see how well those
who did their re-accreditation exam performed and I look forward to seeing the
intra-tester TEMs they generate from their 20 subjects.

Back on the home front, Sport and Exercise Science New Zealand has just held its
Annual Conference. One conference event of interest to us at ISAK, was SESNZ’s
reconfirmation of the use of ISAK standards for the anthropometry section of

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 XVIII:2 November 2005

SESNZ’s own revised accreditation scheme. SESNZ has only two levels of accredita-
tion in its revised scheme. To be recognised as a Practitioner in Anthropometry, an
SESNZ member has to hold current ISAK Level 2 accreditation and have completed
100 full proformas. To be recognised as a Specialist in Anthropometry, an SESNZ
member has to hold current ISAK Level 3 or 4 and have completed 500 full profor-
mas. These SESNZ standards are a real compliment to ISAK, recognising, as they do,
the pioneering work that ISAK has done on the international accreditation front.

In “the good old days” (which usually means before you were born or at least
before you started work), in tertiary education in NZ, we academics would have
brought the academic year to a close by now (the academic year used to run from
March to October in the Southern Hemisphere). However, no wadays, many of our
institutions will have staff still on board right up until Christmas Eve and will re-
open again in the first week of January. The authorities call this progress. You and I
may have another word for it. I have little doubt that the situation is similar world-
wide. Nevertheless, I hope you all do get a break over Christmas/New Year and are
able to do something relaxing and enjoyable during that time. I certainly intend to.

Mike MARFELL-JONES, President

14 Nov 2005

✍ Professor Michael J. MARFELL-JONES, President

Universal College of Learning

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 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

Private Bag 11-022

Palmerston North, NZ
( 64-6-952 7000
fax: 64-6-952 7002
m.marfell-jones@ucol.ac.nz

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 XVIII:2 November 2005

GROWTH SPUR TS

A study conducted by researchers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Virginia

tracked the growth of 31 infants between 3 d and 21 months. Recumbent length
was measured at intervals ranging from every day to once a week. The children
were measured at the same time each day, and always by the same measurers. The
patterns of growth were extremely variable. Some infants did not grow at all for over
two months. Some children grew as much as 16 mm overnight — 10 times greater
than the measurement error. A number of studies suggest that stress can also inhibit
growth. Children are reported to grow more while on holidays than at boarding
school, although this may also be associated with different activity patterns, expo-
sure to sunlight and food. There is also evidence of links between irregular patterns
of growth hormone release and irregular increases in height. Not all studies have
confirmed these rapid periods of growth (saltation) and stasis.

In another study, the Menzies Research Institute in Tasmania, Australia, examined

130 boys aged 16-17 years over a six-week winter period. If these boys watched
less than one hour of TV each day, their growth averaged 7.5 mm. If they watched
2-3 h TV each day, their growth averaged only 2.5 mm. If they watched more than 4
h TV each day, they did not grow at all. The leader of the research team suggests
that the growth patterns may have to do with Vitamin D. Children who watch a lot
of TV may not get enough exposure to sunlight, and hence may not produce enough
Vitamin D for optimal growth.

Sources
Heinrich, C., Munson, P., & Counts, D. (1995).
Patterns of human growth.
Science, 268, 442-446.

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 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

Lampl, M., Veldhuis, J.D., & Johnson, M.L. (1992).

Saltation and stasis: a model of human growth.
Science, 258, 801-803.

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 XVIII:2 November 2005

ISAK OFFICE-BEARERS

President
Mike MARFELL-JONES (NZL) m.marfell-jones@ucol.ac.nz

Past President
Lindsay CARTER(USA) lindsay.carter@sdsu.edu

Vice-President
Isabel FRAGOSO (POR) ifragoso@fmh.utl.pt

Secretary-General
Hans de RIDDER (SAF) mbwjhdr@puknet.puk.ac.za

Executive
SangJo KANG (KOR) sjkang@horse.knupe.ac.kr
Arthur STEWART (GBR) a.d.stewart@rgu.ac.uk
Deborah KERR (AUS) d.kerr@curtin.edu.au
Betty PEREZ (VEN) mariusa@telcel.net.ve
Francisco HOLWAY (ARG) fholway@hotmail.com

Webmaster
Peter MELLOW (NZL) 3peter.mellow@aut.ac.nz2
ISAK home page http://www.isakonline.com

Editor Kinanthreport
Tim OLDS (AUS) tim.olds@unisa.edu.au

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 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

COMING CONFERENCES

Title
CISC2006
13th Commonwealth International Sport Conference

Date
9-12 Mar 2006

Venue
Melbourne, Australia

Theme
CISC2006 is a multidisciplinary confer-
ence with the theme “People, participa-
tion and performance”. This conference
coincides with the Commonwealth
Games.

The ISAK Biennial General Meeting will

take place during this conference.

Contact details
http://www.cisc2006.com

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 XVIII:2 November 2005

Title
ASICS Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport

Date
12-14 Oct 2006

Venue
Fiji

Theme
“Sports medicine in paradise: perspectives from the Pacific”

Contact details
http://www.sma.org.au/ACSMS/2006/

Keynote speakers
Refshauge Lecturer: A/Prof Tim
OLDS (pictured)
Dr Jill Cook
Dr Peter Fricker
Prof Wendy Brown
 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

Title
XIX FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine

Date
14-16 Jun 2006

Venue
Beijing, China

Theme
Sports Medicine for Excellence, Health, Productivity,
Culture and Peace

Contact details
http://www.fims.org/fims2006

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 XVIII:2 November 2005

Title
PACE Yourself 2007. 25th ACHPER International Conference

Date
3-6 Oct 2007

Venue
Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Western Australia

Theme
Participate, Activate, Celebrate, Educate

Contact details
http://www.achperwa.asn.au

Title
Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science (AAESS) 2006

Date
28 Sep – 1 Oct 2006

Venue
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Theme
From Research to Practice

Contact details
http://www.aaess.com.au

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 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

COACHSPEAK

In our own countries we are probably aware of the sports news items wherein a
"coach" or other team official gives a reply to a reporter's standard question with a
version that is quite meaningless, but it is reported anyway. Here is a "non-kinan-
thropometric" example from the San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 May 2005. The new
player is 168 cm tall and weighs about 87 kg ("solidly built"). The General Manager
for the San Diego Chargers, a professional American Football team, says this about a
new "kick-return-running back" player. The General Manager says, "He's really not
small. He's short....You've got to be careful when you're concerned with height,"
Smith says. "Sometimes, when you're small, it's because you're short. He's not
small, and he's exciting, absolutely explosive in space."

Lindsay CARTER
lindsay.carter@sdsu.edu
 XVIII:2 November 2005

ISAK CRITERION (LEVEL 4) ANTHROPOMETRISTS

from Australia
Tim ACKLAND
Deb KERR

from Belgium
Jan BORMS
Albrecht CLAESSENS

from Canada
Alan MARTIN
Bill ROSS

from New Zealand

Mike MARFELL-JONES

from South Africa

Hans de RIDDER

from the USA

Lindsay CARTER

from the UK
Arthur STEWART

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SECOND IRANIAN COURSE

Another ISAK level 1 course was held in the I.R.I Olympic Academy in Iran. It was
the second course in Iran. Both courses were held under the auspices of the ISAK
Accreditation Scheme. There is an evolutionary movement — our team is trying to
do its tasks better and better.

For example, in the second course, Dr. Mojtaba NIKPOUR (one of the interested
candidates in the March
Course) played an impor-
tant role in the practical
exam. He accepted to be
“practical exam coordina-
tor”. This seems to be a
good way to overcome
some errors that are specif-
ic to the practical exam
session, and have their
roots mostly in stress and
excitation among some
candidates. However, my
experience shows a good
coordinator helps to the course instructor very well. During the practical exam ses-
sion, Dr. Nikpour supervised different aspects of the session.

The second point was related to our equipment. As a matter of fact, anthropometric
devices are relatively expensive (considering our per capita GDP is $1500), espe-
cially bone calipers. Nevertheless, we bought enough Slimguide Skinfold Calipers,

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and Lufkin measure tapes. Also, we made anthropometric boxes, and custom-made
segmometers. It may be possible to produce these products “under licence”,
because production costs in countries such as Iran are relatively low. However, we
are ready to start this, provided that ISAK will approve this process. There were 17
participants, including physical education teachers, team physicians, the experts of
the National Centre for Sport Talent Identification and Development, and the first
series of MSc students of the Sport Medicine course in Iran, from Tehran Medical
Sciences University and Iran Medical Sciences University. All of the candidates
passed the practical exam successfully (with scores ranging from 16 to 19).

Course participants
Amir Hosein Barati, Reza Mazaheri, Mehrshad Poursaied Esfahani, Afshin Aslani,
Farhad Moradi Shahpar, Shahram F. Mevaloo, Bahman Mohammadrezaii, Ali
Mazaherinezhad, Saeed Taghizadeh K., Majid Vafa, Arya Hamedanchi, Ali Shojaei
Mahallati, Mohammad Hasabi, Mohammad Sangdevini Gorgani, Hosein Zibaei, Ali
Alipour Daneshmand Fard, Farrokhi Sistani, Vahid Mojab

Finally, I should thank three members of Iranian National Swimming team and also
six elite karateka of the Karadj Karate team. They were nine “patient and kind” crite-
rion subjects in the practical exam session. Moreover, great thanks to Professor Mike
MARFELL-JONES, Professor Hans DE RIDDER, and Mr Peter MELLOW for their kind
help.

Dr Shahram F. MEVALOO
Enghelab Sport Complex
Niayesh Ave., Tehran, IRAN
( +98 21 2011030
fax: +98 21 2052553
sfaradjzadeh@yahoo.com

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ISAK MANUAL — SPANISH VERSION

The ISAK manual, International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment, first edi-
tion 2001, has been translated into Spanish and is now available for purchase. The
title is: Estándares Internacionales para la Valoración Antropométrica, publicado
por la Sociedad Internacional para el Avance de la Kinantropometría. This manual
was translated for ISAK by Miguel ALBARRÁN (Universidad de Puerto Rico), and
Francisco HOLWAY (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Their translation was reviewed and
edited by Betty M. PEREZ, (Universidad Central de Venezuela). This Spanish edition
is available by contacting Dr. Miguel ALBARRÁN ( albarran@fuser.info). ISAK
Level 3-4s are urged to use this volume in their courses. The cost of the ISAK
Manual is U$18.00 plus shipping and handling fee that will be determined based
on the amount of manuals requested. Shipment will be made from Puerto Rico or
Venezuela (Professor Pedro ALEXANDER: p_alexander_ve@yahoo.com).

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NZ COURSE

A three-day ISAK accreditation course was run at Auckland University of

Technology’s JE Lindsay Carter Anthropometric Laboratory (and associated Division

of Sport and Recreation facilities at AUT). The course included 22 Level 1 and 10
Level 2 participants, including two Australian nutritionists from Sydney and
Melbourne, a podiatrist, a chef (!), AUT Bachelor of Sport and Recreation students,
lecturing staff from universities in NZ, and students in Diploma and Bachelor
degrees from other courses in NZ. The Level 2 students were examined using a 60
year old Maori female and a 65 year old male... so it was very good to see how
they coped with assessing a non-athlete non-student client. A big thank you to Bill

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ROSS for the use of the Anthropometry Technique CD. We had a computer set up
in one of the labs where measurement occurred, and the students used it throughout
the course to ensure they knew the correct technique. A big thank you also to the
Anthropometry Interactive team for the lecture material, and to Kelly for creating
the version 1 CD ... as this was a very useful resource for the three lecturers on the
course and for the students who now have the lecture material in pdf format and
copies of templates for use in their practice. We have received some good feedback
on the CD and will incorporate this and then send the version 2 CD to the team for
further feedback.

Patria HUME
patria.hume@aut.ac.nz

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BOOK REVIEW

Crawford, D., & Jeffery, R.W. (Eds.) (2005).

Obesity prevention and public health.
Oxford: OUP.

In most developed countries, and

increasingly in developing countries,
there have been rapid increases in
the prevalence of overweight and
obesity across most sections of the
population. A very wide range of
interventions have been undertaken
at the individual, school, and com-
munity levels, using a mix of behav-
ioural modification, public policy set-
tings, urban redesign, and economic
drivers. In the broad, these interven-
tions have not been successful.

Crawford and Jeffery’s book is an

attempt to summarise current think-
ing on various aspects of the “obesity
epidemic”. It brings together a range
of high-profile Australian and US
researchers, but unfortunately lacks input from Europe and Asia. In particular, the
heavy reliance on US data may tend to generalise atypical behavioural and eating
patterns.

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The book’s coverage is comprehensive. Jacob Seidell offers an excellent account of

the global epidemiology of obesity, including secular trends. Popkin’s chapter on the
“nutrition transition” in developing countries is original and outstanding. Ball and
Crawford offer a much-needed model to connect the dots between socio-cultural
factors and the development of overweight.

There is something of an imbalance in the relative weight given to diet and physical
activity both as causes and as interventions, with a heavy emphasis on diet. In par-
ticular, Harnack and Schmitz’s chapter on the role of nutrition and physical activity
is somewhat dismissive of quite strong evidence on secular trends in energy intake,
which suggests that energy intakes may be stable or declining. Jeffery and Linde
offer a similar analysis which uses rather simplistic models of energy balance to
argue the case for “gluttony” rather than “sloth”.

The various chapters on interventions and policy settings — French on dietary inter-
vention, Salmon and King on physical activity in children, Krahnstoever Davison
and Campbell on familial approaches, and Lawrence on food regulation, Fried on
legal interventions — are excellent summaries, but tend to leave one feeling some-
what depressed both at the overalpping, fragmentary and ad hoc approaches used,
and the extraordinary lack of success for even well-funded projects.

This lack of success is all the more depressing in that Melbourne researchers
Moodie and Carter demonstrate in a surprisingly systematic and readable way the
enormous economic costs of obesity. More radical litigious and economic solutions
are proposed by Mercer, using solutions drawn from the tobacco experience, along
with a rousing tocsin call by Schwarz and Brownell, advocating a crusade against
Big Food.

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Obesity prevention and public health is a very useful summary of the current state
of play in obesity. There is a certain assumed subtext which one often encounters in
books and articles on the “obesity epidemic” — namely that people want to be
saved from their overweight. Physical activity and eating are complex behaviours
embedded in a matrix of social meanings and cultural imaginaries. There is a certain
aloofness in the assumption that people should be made to behave in certain ways
using legal and economic levers. The book would have been enhanced by a consid-
eration of ethical and social issues.

Tim OLDS
tim.olds@unisa.edu.au

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A SHORT HISTORY OF PROTOCOLS

Over the past centuries many landmarks and dimensions have been created and
adapted. Many researchers have developed their own measurement techniques and
created a vast number of dimensions applicable to their own discipline area and
interests. This leads to a multitude of specialised protocols spread throughout the
world. Currently there are several different anthropometric protocols used widely
around the world. Some of the major ones include
• ISAK
• CAESAR (Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource)
• ANSUR (US Army Anthropometric Survey 1987-1988)
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 8559, and
• IBP (International Biological Programme).

Unfortunately, many scientific disciplines have not been able to agree on a stan-
dardisation of anthropometric techniques. As the scientific community branches out
into more fields of interest, the number of protocols increases also. This is true for
anthropometric protocols that have developed in a wide range of specialty fields.
Ergonomics, health and medical sciences, clothing, biomechanics, sport science,
nutrition, military selection, criminal identification and anthropology are some of
the disciplines using anthropometry as a basis for their research. Many of these dis-
ciplines use different protocols. Some protocols are use similar dimensions and
landmarks to each other whereas others are quite different. Some protocols measure
on the left side of the body, some on the right, some on both, and some do not
specify which side of the body to measure. This section describes the genealogy of
anthropometric protocols.

Classical and Renaissance times

Sometime between 15 BC and 150 AD the Roman architectural theorist Vitruvius

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showed detailed descrip-

tions of human proportions.
He created the idea of a
“well-made man” who
would have specific body
proportions. Vitruvius also
showed that studying
human proportions should
be the basis for designing
buildings. Since then
Leonardo da Vinci created a
world famous drawing of
the “Vitruvian man” who
has the “golden” propor-
tion.

Many early anthropologists began to record and compare the sizes and proportions
of different races. Marco Polo (1273-1295), Linnaeus (1707-1778), Buffon (1707-
1788), White (1728-1813), Blumenbach (1752-1840), and Humphrey in 1838 all
showed differences in body proportions of the various human races. Galileo (1564-
1642) also studied human body measurements in relation to movement in as early
as 1638.

The development of modern anthropometry

Many researchers suggest that Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874) was the founder of the
modern science of anthropometry after he produced his famous work Sur l’Homme
et le Développement de ses Facultés in 1835. This was translated into English in
1842 and titled A treatise on man and the development of his faculties. Quetelet
was a famous Belgian astronomer, mathematician and philosopher who first applied

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statistical methods to the study of humans and introduced the term “anthropome-
try”. Quetelet realised that no one had yet studied the development of human
growth over the years, but rather only body size at birth and when fully grown or at
death. He began to study human physical development including stature, mass and
strength measurements and analysed them along with other social and demographic
factors. Statistical comparisons of human bodies between populations had begun.

However, Quetelet himself suggested that there have been artistic works hundreds of
years earlier that showed understanding of body proportions. Artists such as Leon
Baptista Alberti, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Albrecht Dürer studied the
proportions of the human body and used them in their development of statues and
other works of art. Dürer developed a system of measuring a person’s height by
quoting the number of heads it took to equal their height. He also wrote Four books
of human proportions, in which he attempted to categorise the diversity of human’s
physical attributes.

The American Civil War (1861-1865) brought about industrial efficiency and mass
production of machinery and combat equipment. The need to construct user friend-
ly equipment caused them to conduct anthropological studies, which led to what
we now call ergonomics, human factors or engineering anthropometry. This contin-
ued throughout World Wars I and II and beyond, where design of vehicle seats,
workplace environments, military equipment, and other machinery became a grow-
ing industry.

In 1882, Bertillon began forensic anthropometry when he devised a system of

eleven easily taken body measurements for establishing the identity of criminals.
Paul Broca (1824-1880), the founder of the École d’Anthropologie in Paris, helped to
increase the interest in anthropometry in that period, and up until the Franco-
Prussian war of 1870, the Broca system was used almost universally. After this war

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there developed a French school protocol and a German school protocol.

Early attempts at standardisation

Not long after there were efforts to have an international anthropometric protocol
established. This led to the development of an International Agreement on
Anthropometry at conferences in 1906 in Monaco and 1912 at Geneva, with the
International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology (Hrdlicka, 1920).
The 1906 conference produced a protocol for measuring the skull (craniometry) and
living head and facial features (cephalometry), while the 1912 conference devel-
oped technique for measuring the shape (somatometry) and bones of the body
(osteometry). These publications were aimed at becoming the internationally recog-
nised protocol for some time.

However, soon after in 1914 Rudolf Martin wrote his Lehrbuch der Anthropologie,
which became the prominent handbook for several decades. Nevertheless, Martin
followed the 1906 and 1912 agreements for most of his work, yet the accolades he
receives for his handbooks is far beyond that of the agreements. Martin produced a
three volume revised edition in 1928, and then a two volume revised edition in
1957 with Karl Saller. Hrdlicka published the 1906 and 1912 agreements again in
1920, and also included his own handbook that followed the agreements with slight
modifications and suggestions.

The Martin handbooks have become the basis of many current protocols with many
modifications included over the years. Many further anthropometry handbooks have
been published since whilst still using the underlying techniques and definitions
used in the early 1900s. Hrdlicka 1920/1939, Wilder 1920, Davenport 1927,
Stewart 1947/1952, and Montagu 1960, are some of these handbooks that are com-
monly referenced in publications.

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Standardisation in the modern era

In the ergonomics discipline it is difficult to suggest when the use of anthropometry
began. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s researchers began to study
human movement and muscular action through photography. Legros and Weston
studied body dimensions in 1926 to help place a seat and bench correctly for differ-
ent postures. Since then there have been many surveys of select populations to help
construct well-fitting cars, trucks, aircraft, military equipment, chairs, tables and
other working environments. This led to the increased awareness that not only are
the dimensions of the body needed, but also where they are in relation to each
other. Furthermore, this has led researchers to search for methods of measuring and
recording the body in three dimensions, and developing 3D technology.

In 1967 a large group of U.S. anthropologists involved in health and engineering

organised a conference to standardise techniques again. The recommendations from
the conference were then published in the American Journal of Physical
Anthropology by H.T.E. Hertzberg in 1968.

Encouraged by the conference in 1967, John Garrett and Kenneth Kennedy from the
U.S. defence forces published A collation of anthropometry in 1971 that included
comparisons of protocols used in 47 different sources of data (Garrett & Kennedy,
1971). They examined a total of around 2000 definitions of anthropometric tech-
niques to determine whether dimensions were equivalent, not equivalent or whether
the equivalency was indeterminable (Garrett & Kennedy, 1971). They also examined
the protocols from the 1906 and 1912 agreements, along with Martin, Martin and
Saller, and Hrdlicka.

Meanwhile in Europe, the IBP was spreading and a new protocol was constructed
there, created to be used as a worldwide standard for all researchers. Although they
stated their protocol as only a guide to researchers, the IBP wanted to create a large

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amount of comparability between studies from all around the world, and therefore
recommended the protocol published in Weiner and Lourie, 1969. The IBP protocol
was developed with the help of about 100 human biologists involved in the pro-
gram. It is basically identical to Martin and Saller, 1957, except that the IBP mea-
sured on the left side of the body instead of the right side.

In 1973 the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation Study Group met in Canada to dis-
cuss anthropometric techniques in preparation for the Montreal Olympic Games
Anthropological Project (MOGAP). A new standard was created with knowledge of
previous protocols, and this basically followed the Martin handbook, with some
modifications. This group continued to meet and became known as the International
Working Group on Kinanthropometry (IWGK) in 1978. In 1986 the IWGK changed
names to become ISAK. The protocol was again published in 1994, 1996, and in
2001 by the society.

In 1978 NASA produced a comprehensive compilation of 973 dimensions from 91

anthropometric surveys that were available to them at that time (Sanders &
McCormick, 1993; NASA 1978). Only 59 dimensions were considered to be of
extreme importance to design factors in the area and therefore these were recom-
mended for consistent use (NASA, 1978).

In 1988 another standardisation was formed by the Airlie Consensus Conference

and published by Lohman, Roche and Martorell. They do not specify that there tech-
niques are based entirely on another protocol; however they do quote a range of
other studies from which they pooled their reference data from. They formed tech-
nique definitions from a range of previous anthropometric studies and then distrib-
uted them amongst experts to ask for recommendations.

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 K I NA N T H R E P O RT

The US army developed their own protocol for the ANSUR survey in 1987-1988.
They began by distributing a list of 298 dimensions, previously used in military and
civilian surveys, to a range of people who had many years of anthropometric experi-
ence in different areas such as the design of military equipment and clothing. This
list was added to and also shortened to create a final list of 132 direct dimensions in
the ANSUR protocol.

Throughout the 1980s the ISO

began to standardise anthro-
pometric techniques world-
wide (Kroemer, et al., 1994).
ISO 8559 was published in
1989 directed towards the
clothing industry. ISO 7250
followed in 1996 this time
aimed at the human factors or
ergonomics industry.
Standards Australia began to
publish similar protocols in
the 1990s. Australian Standard
1344, 1997, followed ISO
8559 but included its own
modifications. SAA HB59 pub-
lished in 1994 is Australia’s
standard for the human fac-
tors/ergonomics industry.

The CAESAR project, conducted from 1998-2000, created its own new protocol,
currently the largest 3D whole-body scanning survey in the world. The project

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began with the formation of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) working
group in 1993. CAESAR does not specify how it arrived at its protocol, however it
tries to reference the ISO 7250 protocol whenever possible. The US Air Force
Laboratories at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where the CAESAR project
developed, have consistently performed large anthropometric surveys for more than
60 years.

Tim Kupke
kuptc001@students.unisa.edu.au

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