Relationship between morphologic somatotypes and standing posture equilibrium

Previous studies have identified height and weight as important factors aff ecting quiet standing stability but studies have not addressed body morphol ogy as a global factor, Using anthropometric measurements, the morphologic somatotypes were defined in terms of body composition and structure. The ai m of this study was to test the hypothesis that morphologic somatotypes wer e related to standing posture equilibrium in able-bodied girls, A total of 43 able-bodied girls having a mean age of 13.8 +/-2.2 years participated in this study. Somatotype measurements were taken to determine their endomorp hic. mesomorphic or ectomorphic components. Then. subjects Acre asked to st and still oil a force platform for 64s with their eyes opened, feet about 2 3cm apart and arms aligned with the trunk. Afterwards, Subjects were groupe d based oil the highest value of their somatotype component, There wits no statistical difference in age, height and weight among the groups. The surf ace area of all ellipse delineated by the displacement of the Centre of pre ssure (COP) was statistically larger (236.9 +/- 134.3 mm(2)) for the ectomo rphs than for the endomorphs ( 137.7 +/- 71.4 mm(2)). The minor axis was lo nger (8.1 +/-2.9 mm) for the ectomorphs than for the endomorphs (5.7 +/-2.2 1 mm). The decrease in standing posture stability of the ectomorphic group was attributed to a relatively low muscle Component, a high height weight r atio and an elevated position of the body centre of mass in this population of girls. Somatotypes should be considered when assessing standing posture in both able-bodied subjects and patients.