Obesity and Heath-Carter Somatotyping of 3438 Adults in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China by Multivariate Analysis

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the somatotype and obesity of adults in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and to explore multivariate path analysis for the feasibility and scientificity of using somatotypes to evaluate obesity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: According to anthropometric methods, a cross-sectional study was performed on 10 indexes of 3438 adults (1690 men and 1748 women, aged > 20 years) living in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China (including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Xibe, Uzbek, Tatar and Tajik). The Heath-Carter anthropometric method and body mass index (BMI) were used to evaluate somatotype and obesity, respectively. The feasibility and scientificity of using somatotypes to evaluate obesity were analysed by correspondence analysis. RESULTS: Among the six populations, the somatotypes were mainly distributed as endomorphic mesomorph, mesomorph-endomorph and mesomorphic endomorph populations, accounting for 66.5% of males and 78.8% of females. The obesity rate (27.4% in males, 27.8% in females) of the six populations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China was much higher than the average Chinese adult obesity rate (12.1%) and the global adult obesity rate (male: 11%, female: 15%). The distribution of BMI was significantly different (male: P=0.000, female: P=0.033) in different populations, and the incidence of overweight and obesity in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China increased gradually. This study found that there were significant differences in somatotype distribution among different obesity groups in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China (P=0.000). There was a strong correlation between overweight or obesity and endomorph-mesomorph, endomorphic mesomorph and mesomorphic endomorph. Furthermore, this study indicated that using somatotypes to evaluate obesity was reliable and scientific. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that the somatotype of overweight or obese people was mainly related to endomorphic mesomorph, mesomorph-endomorph, and mesomorphic endomorph.