Anthropometric dimensions among Indian males — A principal component analysis

Yıl 2014, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 2, 54 - 62, 31.12.2014

Joydeep Majumder

Öz

Anthropometry is a potential tool in estimating body composition indicators and assist in
understanding human physical variations in terms of their long-range utility in
understanding the body growth. The present study focused on factorial analysis of
anthropometric data collected on a population to explore the possibility of clustering of body
dimension data as body composition indicators. This study was carried on rural male
population of Orissa, India. 26 anthropometric parameters comprising of lengths, breadths,
circumferences and skinfold thicknesses were measured. The variables were treated for PCA,
which generated three principal components – volume indicator, body length indicator and
body fat indicator, explaining 79.5% cumulative variance of the total parameters. Split
analysis of subsets of the sample showed same pattern of result as of for the analysis using the
full sample. Internal data reliability test (Cronbach’s Alpha) of the sample as well as
individual variables was above 0.9. Applying PCA, the study sub-grouped the anthropometric
parameters under three clusters as volume indicator (breadths and circumferences on the
transverse plane), body length indicator (lengths on the coronal plane) and body fat indicator
(skinfold thicknesses). The data provided in this study indicate that the parameters are
generalizable to the population represented by this data set for male population.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Anthropometry, ergonomics, factor analysis, Indian men, body composition

Kaynakça

• Abeysekera JDA, Shahnavaz, H. (1989) Body size variability between people in developed and developing countries and its impact on the use of imported goods. Int J Ind Ergonom 4:139-149.