Human body shape is a complex phenomenon with sophisticated detail and function. The general shape or figure of a person is defined mainly by the molding of skeletal structures, as well as the distribution of
muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of mus ...
s and
fat.
Skeletal structure grows and changes only up to the point at which a human reaches adulthood and remains essentially the same for the rest of their life. Growth is usually completed between the ages of 13 and 18, at which time the epiphyseal plates of long bones close, allowing no further growth (see
Human skeleton
The human skeleton is the internal framework of the human body. It is composed of around 270 bones at birth – this total decreases to around 206 bones by adulthood after some bones get fused together. The bone mass in the skeleton makes up a ...
).
Many aspects of body shape vary with gender and the
female body shape
Female body shape or female figure is the cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat on the body.
There is a wide range of normality of female body shapes. Female figures are typical ...
especially has a complicated cultural history. The science of measuring and assessing body shape is called
anthropometry
Anthropometry () refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various atte ...
.
Physiology
During
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...
,
differentiation of the male and female body occurs for the purposes of
reproduction
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...
. In adult humans,
muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of mus ...
mass may change due to exercise, and fat distribution may change due to
hormone
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...
fluctuations. Inherited genes play a large part in the development of body shape.
Facial features
Due to the action of testosterone, males may develop these
facial
A facial is a family of skin care treatments for the face, including steam, exfoliation (physical and chemical), extraction, creams, lotions, facial masks, peels, and massage. They are normally performed in beauty salons, but are also a comm ...
-bone features during puberty:
* A more prominent brow bone (bone across the centre of the forehead from around the middle of eyebrow across to the middle of the other) and a larger nose bone.
* A heavier
jaw.
* A wider face.
* A more prominent
chin
The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm.
Evolution
The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...
.
Because females have around 1/4 the amount of testosterone of a male, the testosterone-dependent features do not develop to the same extent.
Skeletal structure
Skeletal structure
The skeletal formula, or line-angle formula or shorthand formula, of an organic compound is a type of molecular structural formula that serves as a shorthand representation of a molecule's bonding and some details of its molecular geometry. A ...
frames the overall shape of the body and does not alter much after maturity. Males are, on average, taller, but body shape may be analyzed after normalizing with respect to height. The length of each bone is constant, but the joint angle will change as the bone moves.
Female traits
Widening of the
hip bones occurs as part of the female pubertal process,
and
estrogens
Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal acti ...
(the predominant
sex hormones in females) cause a widening of the pelvis as a part of
sexual differentiation
Sexual differentiation is the process of development of the sex differences between males and females from an undifferentiated zygote. Sex determination is often distinct from sex differentiation; sex determination is the designation for the dev ...
. Hence females generally have wider hips, permitting
childbirth
Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births glob ...
. Because the female
pelvis
The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton).
The ...
is flatter, more rounded and proportionally larger, the head of the
fetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal dev ...
may pass during childbirth. The
sacrum
The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30.
The sacrum situates at the upper, back part o ...
in females is shorter and wider, and also directed more toward the rear (see image). This sometimes affects their
walking style, resulting in hip sway. The upper limb in females have an outward angulation (carrying angle) at elbow level to accommodate the wider pelvis. After puberty, hips are generally wider than shoulders. However, not all females adhere to this stereotypical pattern of
secondary sex characteristic
Secondary sex characteristics are features that appear during puberty in humans, and at sexual maturity in other animals. These characteristics are particularly evident in the sexually dimorphic phenotypic traits that distinguish the sexes of a s ...
s. Both male and female hormones are present in the human body, and though only one of them is predominant in an adult, the other hormone has effects on body shape to some extent.
Male traits
Widening of the
shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...
s occurs as part of the male pubertal process.
Expansion of the
ribcage
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a sem ...
is caused by the effects of
testosterone
Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...
during
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...
.
Fat distribution, muscles and tissues
Body shape is affected by body
fat distribution, which is correlated to current levels of
sex hormones.
Unlike
bone
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
structure, muscles and fat distribution may change from time to time, depending on food habits, exercises and hormone levels.
Fat distribution
Estrogen causes fat to be stored in the
buttocks
The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
,
thighs, and
hips
In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint.
The hip region ...
in females. When females reach
menopause
Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...
and the estrogen produced by ovaries declines, fat migrates from their buttocks, hips and thighs to their waists. Later fat is stored in the
belly
Belly may refer to:
Anatomy
* The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach
** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking
** Belly dance
* The fleshy, cent ...
, similar to men. Thus females generally have relatively narrow
waist
The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso.
''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appear ...
s and large buttocks, and this along with
wide hips make for a wider hip section and a lower
waist–hip ratio
The waist–hip ratio or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is the dimensionless ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips.
This is calculated as waist measurement divided by hip measurement (). For example, a person with a 30″ ( ...
compared to men. Hormonal and genetic factors may produce
male-like distribution of fat in women i.e. around the belly instead of buttocks and thighs.
Estrogen increases
fat storage in the body, which results in more fat stored in the female body.
Body fat percentage guidelines are higher for females, as this may serve as an energy reserve for
pregnancy
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...
. Males generally deposit fat around
waist
The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso.
''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appear ...
s and
abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...
s (producing an "apple shape").
Muscles
Testosterone
Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...
helps build and maintain muscles through exercise. On average, men have around 10 times more testosterone than women. Prominent muscles of the body include the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, pectoral muscles (muscles critical for a strong erect posture) as well as
biceps and
triceps
The triceps, or triceps brachii (Latin for "three-headed muscle of the arm"), is a large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It consists of 3 parts: the medial, lateral, and long head. It is the muscle principally responsibl ...
in the arms and
quadriceps
The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...
and
hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupe ...
s in the thighs.
Breasts
Females have enlarged
breast
The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.
In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...
s due to functional
mammary glands
A mammary gland is an exocrine gland in humans and other mammals that produces milk to feed young offspring. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in prima ...
, which develop from puberty onward due to the effects of
estrogen
Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal ac ...
. Mammary glands do not contain muscle tissue. The shape of female breasts is affected by age, genetic factors, and body weight.
Weight
Being
overweight or
underweight
An underweight person is a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. A person who is underweight is malnourished.
Assessment
The body mass index, a ratio of a person's weight to their height, has traditionally been used ...
causes change in the human body's shape as well as
posture
Posture or posturing may refer to:
Medicine
* Human position
** Abnormal posturing, in neurotrauma
** Spinal posture
** List of human positions
* Posturography Posturography is the technique used to quantify postural control in upright stance in ...
and walking style. This is measured using
Body Mass Index (BMI) or waist circumference. Depending on the BMI, a body may be referred to as slim, overweight, or obese.
Dieting, in conjunction with
exercise, may be used to bring and keep the BMI within a healthy or desired range.
A person can calculate BMI, that is body mass index, to check that where they lie in terms of weight and height. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is ideal.
A person with a BMI below 18.5 is classed as underweight, above 24.9 is overweight and a BMI of 30 or higher is defined as Obese.
The
fats and
carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or m ...
s in
food constitute the majority of energy used by the body. They are measured cumulatively in the USA and many other places in
calories and in
kilojoule
The joule ( , ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to the amount of work done when a force of 1 newton displaces a mass through a distance of 1 metre in the direction of the force applied ...
s in some other parts of the world.
Body posture and gait
Body shape has effects on body
posture
Posture or posturing may refer to:
Medicine
* Human position
** Abnormal posturing, in neurotrauma
** Spinal posture
** List of human positions
* Posturography Posturography is the technique used to quantify postural control in upright stance in ...
and
gait, and has a major role in
physical attraction
Physical attractiveness is the degree to which a person's physical features are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from either. There are many f ...
. This is because a body's shape implies an individual's hormone levels during puberty, which implies fertility, and it also indicates current levels of
sex hormones.
A pleasing shape also implies good
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
and
fitness of the body. Posture also affects body shape as different postures significantly alter body measurements, which thus can alter a body’s shape.
Impact on health
According to the
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a Canadian charity dedicated to advocacy, education, and the funding of research surrounding heart disease and stroke.
Nomenclature
In November 2016, the organization re-branded as ''Heart & Stroke ...
, those people with a larger waist (apple shaped) have higher health risks than those who carry excess weight on the hips and thighs (pear shaped). People with apple shaped bodies who carry excess weight are at greater risk of high
blood pressure, Type 2
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
and high
cholesterol
Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...
.
Fitness and exercise
Different forms of
exercises are practiced for the
fitness of the body and also for health. It is a common belief that
targeted exercise reduces fat in specific parts of the body —for example, that exercising muscles around the
belly
Belly may refer to:
Anatomy
* The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach
** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking
** Belly dance
* The fleshy, cen ...
reduces fat in the belly. This, however, is now proven to be a misconception; these exercises may change body shape by improving
muscle tone but any fat reduction is not specific to the locale. Spot reduction exercises are not useful unless you plan proper exercise regime to lose overall calories. But exercising reduces fat throughout the body, and
where fat is stored depends on hormones.
Liposuction is surgery commonly used in
developed societies to remove fat from the body.
Social and cultural ideals
The general body shapes of female and male bodies both have significant social and cultural symbolism.
Physical attractiveness
Physical attractiveness is the degree to which a person's physical features are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from either. There are many ...
is closely associated with traits that are considered typical of either sex. The body mass index (
BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, and especially waist-to-chest ratio in men have been shown in studies to rank as overall more desirable to women. To be deemed to have an "athletic built"/build is usually a reference to wide shoulders, a muscular upper body and well-developed upper-arm muscles which are all traits closely associated with
masculinity, similarly to other specifics of the male sex, like
beard
A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards.
Throughout the course of history, societal at ...
s. These traits are seen more
sexually attractive
Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or ma ...
to women and also associated with higher intelligence, good leadership qualities and better health.
Terminology
Classifications of female body sizes are mainly based on the circumference of the bust–waist–hip (
BWH
Bust/waist/hip measurements (informally called 'body measurements' or ′vital statistics′) are a common method of specifying clothing sizes. They match the three inflection points of the female body shape. In human body measurement, these t ...
), as in 36–24–36 (inches) respectively. In this case, the waist–hip ratio is 24/36 = 0.67. Many terms or classifications are used to describe body shape types:
*V shape: Males tend to have proportionally smaller buttocks, bigger chests and wider
shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...
s, wider latissimus dorsi and a small waist which makes for a V-shape of the torso.
*Hourglass shape: The female body is significantly narrower in the
waist
The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso.
''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appear ...
both in front view and profile view. The waist is narrower than the chest region due to the breasts, and narrower than the hip region due to the width of the buttocks, which results in an
hourglass shape.
*Apple: The stomach region is wider than the hip section, mainly in males.
*Pear or spoon or bell: The hip section is wider than the upper body, mainly in females.
*Rectangle or straight or banana: The hip, waist, and shoulder sections are relatively similar.
See also
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
*
*
*
Male body shape
Human body shape is a complex phenomenon with sophisticated detail and function. The general shape or figure of a person is defined mainly by the molding of skeletal structures, as well as the distribution of muscles and adipose tissue, fat. Ske ...
*
*
*
**
References
External links
Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Body Shape
Physical attractiveness