History Of Anthropometry

Definition The word ‘Anthropometry’ is derived from a Greek word ‘an-thropos’ meaning ‘human’ and ‘metron’ meaning ‘measure’. According to Merriam -Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th ed, anthropometry is defined as ‘‘the measurement of the size and proportions of the human body, especially as an aid for comparative study in physical anthropology’’.The Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 21st by Donald Venes, 2009 defines , ‘‘anthropometry is a science of measuring the human body, including craniometry, osteometry, skin fold evaluation for subcutaneous fat estimation, and height and weight measurements.”

Milestones of anthropometry In the 13th century Marco Polo described the different body builds and sizes he encountered. Anthropometry

With change in meaning has brought change in its usage : from racial classification to international public health and anthropometric history. The studies of stature affecting the recruitment in army, navy and slaves during World war era to head and body breadth and length dimensions for racial affinities and use in public health in the 19th and early 20th century .Then measures of weight, stature, circumference and skinfold thickness was used in identifying environmental influences in child growth and nutritional status in the 2nd half of 20th and into the 21st century. In the 19th century, anthropometry was used in creation and validation of racial typologies. Changing understandings of human diversity and its production led to ideas of typology and its classification. By the mid 20th century, biological anthropometry was introduced which used idea of anthropometry as a measure of physiological and developmental plasticity in relation to environmental quality. The reframing of anthropometry for use in adaptability research reflected these newer understandings, placing the human adaption as determined by physical human growth patterns in evolutionary

Linnaeus wrote the taxonomy of species in which he included the classification of human groups (Linne 1767).He proposed subdivisions of humanity into four stocks, which are, Homo sapiens americanus described as reddish, stubborn and easily angered; Homo sapiens asiaticus: yellowish, greedy and easily distracted; Homo sapiens africanus: black, relaxed and negligent and Homo sapiens europeanus: white, gentle and inventive. The characters attributed to each stock or group showed the perception of dominant Europeans imperial power of the time and the science that served them. Though Darwin (1874) proposed mechanisms of natural selection in the generation of human biological variations, ideas of biological difference between populations became notions of race employing some or all of the taxonomic categories proposed by Linnaeus. Anthropometry was central to the creation and reification of racial typologies, forming the basis of scientific racism and eugenics in the late 19th century.The use of morphology in human classification continued to be key to use of physical anthropology into the 20th century, forming basis for racial origins, typologies and affinities(Harrison