This study provides the largest and most geographically representative sex-specific and age-specific European normative values for children and adolescents, which have utility for health and fitness screening, profiling, monitoring and surveillance.

The aim of this study was to quantify the anthropometric differences between elite senior Australian rowers and the Australian adult population using three-dimensional (3D) whole-body scanning. The dimensions of senior rowers competing at the 2007-2008 Australian Rowing Championships were compared with those of an age-matched sample of Australian adults. Mass, height, and sitting height were measured before the participants underwent a 3D whole-body scan, with lengths, breadths, girths, cross-sectional and surface areas, and volumes extracted from each scan. Differences in means and variability between the two groups were expressed as standardized effect sizes and ratios of coefficients of variation. Heavyweight rowers were generally much larger than the general population in absolute size, with 3D dimensions and height and mass showing the largest effects. In contrast, lightweight rowers were generally similar or smaller in absolute and proportional size. The dimensions of rowers, especially the lightweights, were also generally less variable than those of the general population. The greatest differences between elite rowers and the general population were seen in dimensions that could not be captured without 3D scanning, such as segmental volumes and cross-sectional areas.

Measurements of whole body surface area (WBSA) have important applications in numerous fields including biological anthropology, clinical medicine, biomechanics, and sports science. Currently, WBSA is most often estimated using predictive equations due to the complex and time consuming methods required for direct measurement. The main aim of this study was to identify whether there were significant and meaningful differences between WBSA measurements taken using a whole body three-dimensional (3D) scanner (criterion measure) and the estimates derived from each WBSA equation identified from a systematic review. The study also aimed to determine whether differences varied according to body mass index (BMI), sex, or athletic status. Fifteen WBSA equations were compared with direct measurements taken on 1,714 young adult subjects, aged 18-30 years, using the Vitus Smart 3D whole body scanner, including 1,452 subjects (753 males, 699 females) from the general Australian population and 262 rowers (148 males, 114 females). Mixed-design analysis of variances determined significant differences and accuracy was quantified using Bland-Altman analysis and effect sizes. Thirteen of the 15 equations overestimated WBSA. With a few exceptions, equations were accurate with a low-systematic error (bias ≤2%) and low-random error (standard deviation of the differences 1.5-3.0%). However, BMI did have a substantial impact with the accuracy of some WBSA equations varying between the four BMI categories. The Shuter and Aslani: Eur J Appl Physiol 82 (2000) 250-254 equation was identified as the most accurate equation and should be used for Western populations 18-30 years of age. Care must be taken when deciding which equation to use when estimating WBSA.

The objective quantification of three-dimensional kinematics during different functional and occupational tasks is now more in demand than ever. The introduction of new generation of low-cost passive motion capture systems from a number of manufacturers has made this technology accessible for teaching, clinical practice and in small/medium industry. Despite the attractive nature of these systems, their accuracy remains unproved in independent tests. We assessed static linear accuracy, dynamic linear accuracy and compared gait kinematics from a Vicon MX-f20 system to a Natural Point OptiTrack system. In all experiments data were sampled simultaneously. We identified both systems perform excellently in linear accuracy tests with absolute errors not exceeding 1%. In gait data there was again strong agreement between the two systems in sagittal and coronal plane kinematics. Transverse plane kinematics differed by up to 3° at the knee and hip, which we attributed to the impact of soft tissue artifact accelerations on the data. We suggest that low-cost systems are comparably accurate to their high-end competitors and offer a platform with accuracy acceptable in research for laboratories with a limited budget.

Somatotyping is the quantification of human body shape, independent of body size. Hitherto, somatotyping (including the most popular method, the Heath-Carter system) has been based on subjective visual ratings, sometimes supported by surface anthropometry. This study used data derived from three-dimensional (3D) whole-body scans as inputs for cluster analysis to objectively derive clusters of similar body shapes. Twenty-nine dimensions normalised for body size were measured on a purposive sample of 301 adults aged 17-56 years who had been scanned using a Vitus Smart laser scanner. K-means Cluster Analysis with v-fold cross-validation was used to determine shape clusters. Three male and three female clusters emerged, and were visualised using those scans closest to the cluster centroid and a caricature defined by doubling the difference between the average scan and the cluster centroid. The male clusters were decidedly endomorphic (high fatness), ectomorphic (high linearity), and endo-mesomorphic (a mixture of fatness and muscularity). The female clusters were clearly endomorphic, ectomorphic, and the ecto-mesomorphic (a mixture of linearity and muscularity). An objective shape quantification procedure combining 3D scanning and cluster analysis yielded shape clusters strikingly similar to traditional somatotyping.