An objective method for measurement of musculo-skeletal size in children and youth

The purpose of this paper is to present an objective method for estimating the musculo-skeletal size in relation to height for use in the study of body physique in athletic and non-athletic children and youth. In developing the regression of FFB on height the degree of chemical immaturity is accounted for by a tree component body composition approach. The regression approach can be applied to various male and female groups and indicates the relative musculo-skeletal size by the extent to which each group falls above or below the regression of fat-free body (FFB) on height as derived from the non-athletic male and female populations, extending previous work on the adult population to children. The relative musculo-skeletal size of the non-athletic samples from the literature matched our sample, falling within one standard error or the regression line. Athletes within both sexes were found to have more FFB than the non-athletic population and to differ among performance events with the ice-hockey players having the most FFB related to height (2.5 standard errors above the non-athletic line) and middle distance runners the least (within 1 standard error of the line).