Somatotypes of Male Physical Education Majors in Four Countries

The purpose of this study was to compare male physical education majors from four countries in terms of somatotype and body size. The subjects were 317 majors from Universities in Brussels, Dunedin, Prague, and San Diego. Somatotype ratings were made according to the Heath-Carter Method. Individual somatotypes were plotted on somatocharts and the distributions compared. The San Diego group was older, taller, and heavier than the other three groups, as well as being higher on endomorphy than the Prague or Brussels groups. The Prague students were less endomorphic than the other three groups. None of the four groups differed on mesomorphy, ectomorphy, or the height-weight ratio. The somatotypes of all four groups were distributed primarily over the mesomorphic sector of the somatochart, but there were significant differences among the distributions. The San Diego group appeared to be more endomesomarphic, and the Prague group more ectomesomorphic than the other groups. It was concluded that physical education majors from different countries have similar patterns of dominant mesomorphy and moderate ectomorphy, but differ with respect to age, body size, and endomorphy. Institutional selection methods may account for some differences.