An anthropological perspective on hand grip strength as a marker of health, disease and fitness

Abstract

Handgrip strength is a quick way to assess overall muscle strength. Low handgrip strength is an indicator of poor health. While handgrip strength is related with mortality and morbidity, for some parameters, handgrip strength is even a stronger predictor of health than chronological age alone. Handgrip strength is highly sexually dimorphic and has a high heritability. It is thought that this is an outcome of sexual selection and intrasexual competition in our evolutionary history. Some anthropological studies confirm this view, and it is claimed that there are relationships between grip strength and aggression, athletic performance and attractiveness, especially in men. The aim of this study is to review the relationship of diseases with handgrip strength in anthropological perspective and examine the idea that handgrip strength being a marker of biological fitness.