Somatotype characteristics of two populations in Manipur

Somatotype is a numerical shorthand method of studying the present morphological constitution of an individual or population. Somatotypes are determined by age, genetic, dietary condition and physical exercise. The present paper aims at studying the somatotype characteristics of two different communities of Manipur. Ten anthropometric measurements were measured from amongst 339 individuals aged 18-75 years of which 174 constitute males and 165 constitute females. BMI (Body Mass Index) was computed from height and weight of each subject. Somatotype rating of each individual was assessed using standard method. One way analysis of variance indicated significance differences in all parameters among the four groups of men and women (all P< 0.05) level. Regarding somatotype patterns, mesomorphic-endomorph was the most common type in all four comparing groups. Comparatively, Kom and Chothe women were higher in endomorphy with 9.22 and 8.54 ratings than male counterparts; on the contrary, high mesomorphy ratings were observed in both Chothe and Kom males with 6.65 and 5.05 respectively. The highest ectomorphy rating was indicated by the Kom males (2.11) whereas the lowest was indicated by the Chothe women (0.95). Significant variations have been shown in all somatotype components of endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy among the four groups (all P<0.05). Further, it was found that higher the mean BMI values, the larger were the endomorphy components and it was followed by mesomorphy, but the ectomorphy rating declined among the overweight and obese individuals.