INTRAGROUP VARIABILITY OF SOMATOTYPES` FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Objective - to study the somatotype ratio in groups with different levels of regular locomotor activity (RLA) at various stages of ontogenesis and to provide rationale for intragroup variability of their functional characteristics. Materials and methods. Preschool, junior school-age boys and teenagers which all live in Tyumen were enrolled in the study. The functional typology was defined according to the three-component pattern of RLA level. The following methods were used: pedometry and keeping a physical activity’s diary to define the individual volume of RLA; anthropometric measures, growth charts to estimate body proportions; somatotype estimation according to V. G. Shtefko and A. D. Ostrovskiy method. Heart rate, blood pressure, level of physical performance, vegetative system status were measured at rest with an assessment of regulatory mechanisms’ tension level (cardiointervalography, clino-orthostatic testing). Results. In senior preschool children, junior school-age children and youths, in groups with different RLA levels (low - LRLA, medium - MRLA, and high - HRLA) the individuals with various somatotypes were represented. In addition, considering typical RLA in every somatotype, three functional clusters (FC) were distinguished (FC-1 - LRLA, FC-2 - MRLA, FC-3 - HRLA) according to parameters of the cardiovascular system, physical performance, vegetative reactivity, which characterizes the intragroup variability of their functional properties. Conclusions. High adaptive lability of physiological systems compared with the morphological component determines the qualitative heterogeneity of somatotypes in each group of boys and youths with different levels of RLA and variability of their functional characteristics.

somatotype, regular locomotor activity, functional variability