Body Shape Classification is flawed: the FFIT can classify a woman into more than one shape

What is it about?

Ergonomics and health practitioners wish to compare a population’s body shapes (e.g., hourglass, oval, or rectangle) to track health issues and design better-fitting garments. The Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT) is, currently) the most widely used body classification system. To compare populations’ body shapes, practitioners need a body classification system that is stable and repeatable. Yet the FFIT has never been verified, so practitioners must take its veracity on faith. This paper smashes the industry’s faith in the FFIT’s authority. We take multiple alternative measurement definitions (e.g., two different hip measurements) of 1,679 women that are within the FFIT’s wide-ranging definitions, common within the ergonomics community, but produce significantly different circumferences. We show that a single woman can be classified in three different body shapes for three alternative interpretations of FFIT’s measurement placement. By proving that FFIT can produce contradictory categorisation between practitioners, we establish that practitioners must give specific guidance on how to take measurements so their work can be compared to others (e.g., between populations), or replicated (e.g., their work compared to later studies). We pave the way for a new, more stable method of categorising bodies that cannot suffer from FFITs ambiguity.

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Photo by AllGo - An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Photo by AllGo - An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Researchers, scientists, and members of the public assume the body categorisations they read about and use are correct and comparable to the work of others. Yet these assumptions never come with accompanying measurement definitions to provide veracity. This is disastrous. A practitioner who compares their body-shape research to earlier work or a women 'shopping for her body shape might base their actions on differences of body shape when they are actually differences of measurement-taking. They can come to false conclusions with breathtaking ease. Everyone who uses FFIT body shape must now reconsider if their previous thoughts and conclusions are correct. Previous work comparing populations' body shapes must be critically re-examined.

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