Variations of body physique in Santhals: an Indian tribe.

In order to assess sex differences in body physique in Santhals, a cross sectional sample of 800 adult Santhals (400 males and 400 females) was collected from West Bengal (India) using multistage cluster random sampling. The present study aims to explore the body physique of Santhals of West Bengal, where both males and females do backbreaking labor work. This type of research is rare in tribal communities, especially in India. Anthropometric Somatotyping, the method forwarded by Heath and Carter, is followed in the present study, which is a technique of rating human body physique and composition through anthropometric measurements. The results suggest that the Santhal males and females are predominately Mesomorphic in their body physique. Mean somatotype of Santhal males and females are 1.98-4.81-3.98 and 3.16-5.43-3.17 respectively. Variation among Santhal females is more than males in terms of their body physique. Males in general are linear and muscular, whereas females are lean to fatty, but muscular.