Ibikunle, P.O, Onwuakagba, I.U,  Useh U.      

All correspondence to: Dr P.O Ibikunle.(PT, PhD), Northwest University, Mafikeng Campus. South Africa,25405314@nwu.ac.za,  po.ibikunle@unizik.edu.ng

 OBJECTIVES:The body somatotype is defined as the quantification of the present shape and composition of the human body. The body somatotype is expressed in a three- number rating representing endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy components respectively, always in the same order.Endomorphy is the relative fatness; mesomorphy is the relative musculoskeletal robustness; and ectomorphy is the relative slenderness of a physique The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of dominant body somatotype on the Q- angle and selected skeletal measures (hip width and femur length) of male and female undergraduates of a Southeastern Nigeria University.

METHOD:Ethical approval was obtained from the University ethical committee to carryout the study. A total of 250 young adults (125males and 125females) aged between 18 – 30 years participated in this Cross sectional study. The Heath-Carter Anthropometric Body Somatotyping method was used to measure the body somatotype of each of the participant. A Goniometer was used to measure the Q- angle and a flexible tape was used to measure the hip width and femur length of each of the participant. Data was summarized using mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentages; and analyzed using of student’s T- test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation at alpha level of 0.05.

RESULT: The mean age of the male participants was 22.61 ± 2.56 and that of the female participants was 21.92 ± 2.61. The result shows that the most prevalent dominant body somatotype in males and females were found to be mesomorphy. The most prevalent dominant body somatotype in all the participants was found to be mesomorphy. The mean hip width of the male and female participants was found to be 41.45cm ± 4.06 and 43.07cm ± 5.67. The mean right and left femur length of the male and female participants were found to be 45.10cm ± 4.06 and 45.20cm ± 4.10, 42.52cm ± 4.38 and 42.42cm ± 4.29 respectively. The mean Q- angle value of the male and female participants were found to be 16.73⁰ ± 4.00 on the right and 16.94⁰ ± 3.87 on the left; and 18.04⁰ ± 3.83 on the right and 17.86⁰ ± 4.06 on the left, respectively.

There was significant differences (p<0.05) in the values of Hip width, femur length and Q-angle among males and females in all the dominant body somatotypes respectively. There was significant relationship (p=0.02, 0.00) in the values of Q angle and hip width between male and female participants with endomorphic body somatotype, significant relationship (p=0.04, 0.03) in the value of Femur length and Q angle between male and female participants with mesomorphic body somatotype and also in the Hip width and femur length of male and female participants who are mesomorphs (p=0.01, 0.04).

CONCLUSION:The result of the study showed that each dominant body somatotype has different values for Q- angle, hip width and femur length and that sex Differences may have influence on their values.

 KEY WORDS: Body somatotype, Q- angle, Hip width, Femur length, Heath-Carter