Heath Carter vs Sheldon Darnell falacias y realidades de las técnicas somatotipológicas

Abstract

In the present paper, based on various somatotypological investigations we have been carrying out during the Past ten years, we put forward and demonstrate the following hypotheses. 1. The Sheldonian somatotype (morphogenotype) is not always achieved. It is easier to obtain in individuals ofadvanced age than in young individuals, and even once it has been determined, there is no way of knowing for sure whether it is or it isn't. 2. The Parnell somatotype is between the morphophenotype or phenotype and Sheldon's morphogenotype or somatotype. 3. The Heath-Carter mesomorphy has been overestimated. It has doses of adiposity. The relatively high mesomorphy which is always obtained is still higher in those individuals with a higher total percentage of fatty tissue, thus affecting women and children more severely. 4. Extremely muscular men can be included in Sheldon's seven degree scale. The problem lies in the conceptual statement of the somatotype, specifically in the difference between the morphophenotype and the morphogenotype. 5. The Heath-Carter standards should not be used in women and children, since the results obtained do not represent reality. 6. The age factor should not be discarded as it is of fundamental importance for assigning the somatotype, whether morphophenotype or morphogenotype and, above all, before reaching the adult age.