ИСТИНА

The Heath-Carter somatotype is utilized, along with body composition measures, for the assessment of body physique, disease risks, and sports selection. Unlike the somatotoscopy, the conventional anthropometric approach to the somatotyping is based on measurements. Its advantages are the applicability in any ethnic group irrespective of age and the use of a continuous rating scale, while the disadvantages are the need to measure as many as 10 specific anthropometric dimensions by a qualified staff which limits its usefulness in population studies and larger surveys. Here, we discuss our recently suggested approach to the somatotyping based on bioimpedance measurements. Our principal observation enabling this approach was moderate to high correlation of the mesomorphy rating with the fat-free mass index, i.e. the ratio of fat-free mass to height squared. In view of the classical data of Thomasset and Hoffer on the proportionality of the body water and fat-free mass to the electrical resistance index, this meant that the mesomorphy rating could be proportional to the inverse value of the resistance, a directly measured bioimpedance parameter. Predictive formulae for the assessment of the endomorphy and mesomorphy ratings of the somatotype for ethnically Russian children and adults, respectively, were constructed based on only 3 measured parameters (height, weight, and the resistance) and one additional nominal parameter (sex). Our formulae turned out to be reasonably accurate in the general population, with R2 typically ranging between 0.81-0.86 and SEE between 0.54-0.69 somatotype units. The respective algorithms of the somatotype assessment were implemented in the software of the ABC-01 ‘Medas’ (SRC Medas, Russia) bioimpedance instrument. Taken together, our findings suggest the usefulness of BIA as a reliable tool for automated assessment of the Heath-Carter somatotype. Further development of this work may include studies of ethno-geographic variation of the somatotype using mass population BIA data, as well as elaboration of other ethnic-specific formulae. One of the challenges is the need for cross-calibration of BIA instruments to ensure data comparability.