Skinfold Thickness in Australian Aborigines

MEASUREMENT of skinfold thickness affords data for one line of approach towards estimating body composition, a subject of considerable interest in a number of fields of human biology (see Brozek, i960, 1963, 1965). In 1957 Doctor (now Professor) J. S. Weiner generously supplied me with a Harpenden skinfold caliper which I have used on all our expeditions from then on. We now have records for 553 Aborigines of both sexes at all ages from widely separate parts of the Australian continent. Careful scrutiny of the findings failed to disclose tribal or regional differences of any significance and the consolidated results are presented here as a single cross-sectional series. Apart from a few correlations with other physical dimensions there is no attempt to treat this study as more than a simple record of fact. The Aborigines are widely known as a particularly lean people and our findings confirm that. But it must be remembered that our subjects were living in or very close to their native environment a hard life sustained mainly on a diet of lean meat protein and a varying amount of vegetable but almost completely lacking in sugar and in animal fats. Under such conditions spareness is to be expected. Nevertheless, the same people living in well-fed indolence can become quite obese (Figs iB and iC). It seems possible, therefore, that the overall leanness of the Aborigines is to some extent a reflection of the conditions of native life.