Somatotype Characteristics of Bulgarian Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the somatotype of adult Bulgarian patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Sixty male and 60 female patients aged 20 to 40 years were involved in the study. A sample of healthy Bulgarian individuals (40 females and 40 males) in the same age range as the patients was used as a control group. The measurements were done by direct anthropometry. The Heath–Carter anthropometric method was used to rate the somatotype components of each participant. The mean somatotype of the female diabetic patients was mesomorphic endomorph (endo 5.37; meso 4.51; ecto 1.42). The endomorphic component was dominant, followed by the mesomorphic component and the ectomorphic component with the lowest rating. The mean somatotype of the control females was balanced endomorph (endo 3.74; meso 2.81; ecto 2.98). The endomorphic component was dominant, but the mesomorphic and ectomorphic components were equally presented. The values of endomorphic and mesomorphic components were significantly higher in the female patients than in the healthy women. In males, both the diabetic patients and control individuals presented with endomorphic mesomorph somatotype: patients (endo 3.94; meso 4.66; ecto 2.37) and controls (endo 4.34; meso 5.19; ecto 2.22). The mesomorphic component was dominant, followed by the endomorphic component and the ectomorphic component was with the lowest rating. The mesomorphic component was significantly greater in the healthy males than in the male patients.