Human Morphology: Exploring Sheldon's Somatotype Theory and Health

This report delves into the realm of human morphology, focusing on William Herbert Sheldon's somatotype theory. It provides a comprehensive overview of the concept, which categorizes human physiques based on three fundamental components: endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy. The report elaborates on each somatotype, detailing their physical characteristics and predispositions. Endomorphs, characterized by a higher proportion of body fat, a tendency to gain weight easily, and a slower metabolism, are discussed in detail, including their health implications. The report also briefly describes mesomorphs, known for their athletic build and muscular strength, and ectomorphs, who are typically lean and have difficulty gaining weight. Furthermore, the report provides a concise conclusion, emphasizing the significance of understanding human morphology and its influence on health and well-being. The report uses references to support the analysis and discussion of somatotypes.

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Human Morphology
INTRODUCTION
Morphology can be comprehensively said to be a branch
pertinent to biology that deals with the all-inclusive study of
the structure as well as the form of organisms and their
certain structural traits. It tends to include facets of outward
appearance inclusive of structure, colour, pattern, shape and
size, referred to as eideonomy or external morphology. In
addition to this, morphology also consists of anatomy or
internal morphology which is composed of structure and
form of internal part such as organ and bone. The current
project seeks to explore the 3 main kinds of Somatotypes
laid down by Sheldon during the era of 1940s. Further, it
will explain the health implications of one of these
somatotypes.
Mesomorphs: These are the individuals who are known to be
athletic, strong and solid. These individuals are not considered as
being overweight or underweight, they can be said to be the right
mix. These individuals can eat too much without being concerned
about it. The people belonging to this category lose and gain
weight without putting much effort for it.
What are Somatotypes?
Somatotype can be comprehensively referred to as a
taxonomy introduced by an American psychologist in the
year 1940 by William Herbert Sheldon. The main reason or
purpose behind developing this is to effectively categorize
the overall human physique as per the relative contribution
of basic three fundamental factors which the psychologist
termed as 'somatotypes', classified by William Herbert
Sheldon as 'ectomorphic', 'mesomorphic' as well as
'endomorphic'.
It has also been identified that the name was given by him
after the three germ layers which is of embryonic
development: the first one is endoderm, (which mainly
produced into the digestive tract), the second layer is known
as mesoderm, (which usually become muscle, heart as well
as blood vessels) along with third layer which is named as
the ectoderm (which creates skin as well as nervous system).
Conclusion
On the basis of the discussion done in the report, it can be
comprehensively stated that human morphology is the study of
body structure, size, type, etc. In addition to this, the discussion
leads to the emergence of a term named somatotype. In this
regard, it has been identified that somatotype is a taxonomy
developed in the 1940s by American psychologist William
Herbert Sheldon to categorize the human physique according to
the relative contribution of three fundamental elements which he
termed 'somatotypes', classified by him as 'ectomorphic',
'mesomorphic' and 'endomorphic'. Now, endomorphs have
mostly negative health implications because of their slow
metabolism rates and excessive fat and body weight.
Sheldon’s Theory
It has also been identified that later the different variations of the whole
methodology, was introduced by the original research assistant of William
Herbert Sheldon named as Barbara Heath. After that Lindsay Carter along with
Rob Rempel are still there in the occasional academic use. In addition to this, it
has also been examined that a theory named as Constitutional psychology define
as one of the method or theory formulated by Sheldon in the year 1940s, which
was introduced to associate the another element which is somatotype
classifications with the human temperament types. Furthermore, it is also said
that the foundation of all these ideas was basically originated with the help of
Francis Galton as well as eugenics. In addition to this, it has also been said that
Sheldon along with Earnest Hooton were seen as the effective leaders of a school
of the thought, commonly famous in anthropology at the duration, which says
that the overall size as well as shape of a individual person's body shows the
intelligence, future achievements as well as moral worth.
Apart from this, it is examined by analyzing various factors that in the year 1953
his book named as Atlas of Men, the American psychologist Sheldon
categorized each and every possible body types as per the scale which is mainly
ranging from 1 to 7 for every sort of the three factors includes in 'somatotypes'.
For this, in the first category is the pure 'endomorph' which is 7–1–1, whereas on
the second category where pure 'mesomorph' is 1–7–1 and on the other hand in
third element which is pure 'ectomorph' scores 1–1–7. These are the ranking
giving to each element as per the somatotypes. From the type of number, it has
been said that the individual's mental characteristics can easily be examined and
predicted. Apart from this, it has also been said that in a late version of
pseudoscientific thread among criminology where criminality is being claimed to
be an effective and innate characteristic which can easily be identified through
specific physiognomic markers. Sheldon says that usually criminals tended to be
'mesomorphic'. Also the system of whole somatotyping is still used by people in
physical education field.
The three types of somatotypes are described below in a detailed manner:-
Ectomorphs: This is a body type whereby an individual is acknowledged to be
lean and long, with very little amount of body fat and equivalently less muscle.
Individuals pertinent to this somatotype tend to bear a very hard time while
gaining their weight. In this relation, it has been identified that there are mainly
basket ball players as well as fashion models which belong to this type of
category. These individuals are mainly the most hated because of them being
genetically blessed. However, it is also seen that some of the male ectomorphs
are not happy about their narrow chest frame. Further, the females belonging to
this category wish for more of the womanly curves.
Endomorphs: The individuals having this kind of body structure tend to possess
excessive fat, several muscles and are known for gaining weight in an easy and
rapid manner. In this regard, it is usually seen that football lineman belong to
this category. With respect to this, it has been identified that the most common
examples of this category of individuals include Oprah Winfrey, Marilyn
Monroe, etc.
What is Human Morphology?
Morphology can be determined as a branch pertinent
to life science that is concerned with the
comprehensive study of the gross structure of a taxon
or an organism along with its constituent part. Now,
growth across the lifespan of females as well as males
tends to produce alterations within the structure as
well as form of the human body that must be identified
within the biomechanical models. Human morphology
is thus considered with study of the shape, size and
structure or in other terms, physique of human body.
Health Implications of Endomorphs
After mentioned are the health implications for endomorph which
is the selected category of somatotypes for comprehensive
analysis. The individuals who possess this type of body are
acknowledged to be having a slower metabolism rate. This tends
to make it easy for these individuals to attain weight but much
harder to lose it at the same time. This kind of body also tends to
stunt muscle growth. This body type of individuals are
considered to be the most prone to any kind of diseases which
emerge from excessive weight or fats. The individuals who are
identified to be having an endomorph type of body usually tend
to possess soft, round bodies with a wide waist and large bones,
joints, and hips, regardless of their height. Thus, it will not be
wrong to state that the health implications for this somatotype are
not really positive. However, it has been analysed that by
following a particular kind of exercise and diet plan, individuals
having endomorphic type of body can get due assistance. This
can thus help them in keeping up to their health goals.
REFERENCES
Ryan-Stewart, H., Faulkner, J. and Jobson, S., 2018. The
influence of somatotype on anaerobic performance. PloS
one, 13(5), p.e0197761.
Giannopoulos, N., Vagenas, G., Noutsos, K., Barzouka, K. and
Bergeles, N., 2017. Somatotype, level of competition, and
performance in attack in elite male volleyball. Journal of
Human Kinetics, 58(1), pp.131-140.