Editing Anthropometry (section)

{{short description|Measurement of the human individual}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Anthropometrics|Anthropometric units of measurement}}
[[File:Computer_Workstation_Variables_cleanup.png|thumb|right|240px|The field of ergonomics employs anthropometry to optimize human interaction with equipment and workplaces.]]

'''Anthropometry''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|n|θ|ɹ|ə|ˈ|p|ɒ|m|ɪ|t|ɹ|ɪ|audio=en-us-anthropometry.oga}}, {{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ἄνθρωπος}}'' ({{grc-transl|ἄνθρωπος}})|human||''{{wikt-lang|grc|μέτρον}}'' ({{grc-transl|μέτρον}})|measure}}) refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of [[biological anthropology|physical anthropology]], it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in [[paleoanthropology]] and in various attempts to correlate physical with racial and psychological traits. Anthropometry involves the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the human body, primarily dimensional descriptors of body size and shape.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} Since commonly used methods and approaches in analysing living standards were not helpful enough, the anthropometric history became very useful for historians in answering questions that interested them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baten|first1=Joerg|last2=Komlos|first2=John|date=2004|title=Looking Backward and Looking Forward: Anthropometric Research and the Development of Social Science History|journal=Social Science History|volume=28|pages=191–210|via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> 

Today, anthropometry plays an important role in [[industrial design]], [[clothing]] design, [[ergonomics]] and architecture where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions (e.g. the [[Epidemiology of obesity|rise in obesity]]) and require regular updating of anthropometric [[data collection]]s.