A secular trend in body height has been experienced in many nations and populations, hypothesized to be the result of better living conditions. Educational level has been shown to be closely associated with body height. This study examined the changes in body height and popliteal height in a group of adult Chilean male workers by age cohort and the relationship of these with educational level. The body heights and popliteal heights of 1404 male workers from the Valparaíso and Metropolitan regions of Chile were measured in 2016. The sample was grouped by level of education (primary, secondary, technical and university) and age (21–30, 31–40 and 41–50 years). Robust ANOVA and post-hoc analyses using a one-step modified M-estimation of location were conducted based on bootstrap resampling. Both body height and popliteal height increased from the older to the younger age cohort. The largest increase was from the 41–50 to the 21–30 group, with a 1.1% increase in body height and 1.7% increase in popliteal height. When educational level was introduced into the analysis there was a marked increase in both body height and popliteal height for each cohort, but only in primary- and secondary-educated workers. Despite showing an overall increase in body height and popliteal height, younger workers with the highest levels of education showed fewer differences between them than did older workers with less education. The differences were larger in the older than in the younger cohorts. Similarly, this trend was less clear in workers with higher levels of education (technical and university), probably because of a dilution effect caused by increased access to higher education by workers in the lower income quintiles@en

Obtaining an appropriate match between a product and its end-users requires anthropometric data, which are typically outdated and show variations among different countries. Chile had its anthropometric data taken nearly 20 years ago, thus they are probably outdated. The purpose of this article is to describe some anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers. An anthropometric survey involving 27 measures and five calculated body dimensions was conducted in 2016. The measurements were based on ISO 7250 and ISO 15535 to ensure the highest standards possible, and a total of 2946 workers, aged from 18 to 76 years old, participated in the survey. The results showed that Chilean workers have smaller dimensions than Dutch and US workers but have larger dimensions than South Koreans. The data presented in this article constitute the most up-to-date anthropometric dataset describing the dimensions of Chilean workers. Practitioner Summary: In Chile, women are smaller and weigh less than men, and both of these populations have high body mass index (BMIs). In addition, the Chilean population exhibits substantial differences compared with other international adult populations. The data presented in this article should be used as a reference when designing for Chilean workers.@en

The aim of this study was to update the Chilean male workers’ anthropometric database to be used for design purposes and to examine the secular changes observed in a group of anthropometric variables for Chilean male workers. Data collection involved a sample of 2,346 male workers with ages ranging from 18 to 65+, assigned to the Mutual de Seguridad C.Ch.C in the two most populated regions of Chile (Valparaíso and Metropolitana) distributed in nine economic activities branches. Data collection was performed by two teams of 3 physiotherapies each. Before starting the collection process, the measurement teams underwent a training session of one week that included a theoretical session on the basic concepts of anthropometrics, as well as some practical instructions. A total of 32 anthropometric measures were gathered following the ISO standard 7250-1. Before applying the data, a checking process was carried out, trying to identify errors related to the data collection process. The magnitude of the positive secular trend for the stature was 1.0 cm per decade and the highest value was found for shoulder breadth, with a positive increase of 2.7 cm per decade. The results obtained allowed to observe the existence of a positive secular trend for most of the selected body measurements. Finally, it was also possible to verify that the current research may be used for design purposes and to establish the baseline data for long-term observation regarding anthropometric changes among Chilean male workers.@en