How is it established?
How is an individual's body constitution established?
The body constitution of a subject is established by detecting its skeletal diameters and comparing them with those of the reference population. These surveys, which lead to classify individuals into three categories (slim constitution, medium constitution and robust constitution), are normally performed at the wrist, elbow, shoulders, hip and knee.
At home level, however, the body constitution can be calculated by measuring the circumference of the right wrist. This measurement must be carried out with a flexible but inelastic metric cord, to be positioned at the base of the wrist as shown in the figure (immediately below the styloid processes of the radius and ulna).
Definition of body size based on the elbow width (Frisancho method)
Definition of body size based on the circumference of the wrist
For a more precise evaluation, the following equation is used:
Constitution and ideal weight
What relationship exists between body constitution and ideal weight?
The body constitution inevitably influences the calculation of the ideal weight. Strong subjects, for example, have a much higher bone mass than slender individuals and for this reason, with the same body fat and muscle mass, they weigh more.
Lanzola's formula uses height, gender and wrist circumference to provide an estimate of an individual's ideal weight:
Men
- wrist> 20 cm → Weight = 75 x height (m) - 58.5
- wrist 16-20 cm → Weight = 75 x height (m) - 63.5
- wrist <16 cm → Weight = 75 x height (m) - 69.0
Women
- wrist> 18cm → Weight = 68 x height (m) - 51.5
- wrist 14-18 cm → Weight = 68 x height (m) - 58.0
- wrist <14 cm → Weight = 68 x height (m) - 61.0
Calculation of the Ideal Weight
Below is the form for the automatic calculation of the ideal weight. Simply enter your gender, height and wrist circumference expressed in centimeters, your body weight expressed in kilograms and then click on the "calculate ideal weight" button.
