RESUMO
Objective To study the characteristics and regularities of somatotype of Bai ethnicitty children and adolescents in Hu ’ nan.Methods The somatotype growth of 1525 Bai children and adolescents ( male: 748, female:777) was evaluated by the Heath-Carter anthropometric method.Results The mesomorphy of male was bigger than that of female, and endomorphy of female was bigger than that of male .The primary somatotype in male was mesomorph and ectomorph , and it was central and ectomorph in female .The somatotypes developed from balanced mesomorph , ectomorphic mesomorph , mesomorph-ectomorph , mesomorphic ectomorph to mesomorph-ectomorph in male; however , in female from central, balanced ectomorph , central, endomorph-mesomorph to mesomorphic endomorph .Conclusion The somatotypes are very different between males and females of Bai ethnicity children and adolescents .The somatotype of males is slender with less fat and more muscular , however , they are plumper with more body fat and shorter stature in females .Bai ethnicity children and adolescents have less muscular , less fat and shorter stature than Mongolian and other populations .