Objective: The present study compared the anthropometric characteristics of Korean and American adults by gender and age group in terms of stature, weight, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI).
Background: An analysis of the anthropometric characteristics of foreign populations compared to Koreans is useful for product design, establishing size systems, production, and market strategy planning tailored to foreign consumers whose body shapes differ from those of Koreans.
Method: Anthropometric data from the 8th Size Korea project collected in 2020 and 2021 among Koreans (referred to as 'Size Korea'), data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected from 2015 to 2018 among Americans (referred to as 'NHANES'), and data from the Size USA survey completed in 2003 (referred to as 'Size USA') were secured. Using these three sets of anthropometric data, the descriptive statistics, means, and standard deviations (SDs) for stature, weight, waist circumference, and BMI were analyzed and compared by gender and age group.
Results: The analysis results of descriptive statistics in this study indicated that weight, waist circumference, and BMI showed right-skewed distributions compared to stature, and Americans exhibited a higher degree of right skewness than Koreans. Additionally, the analysis results of the mean difference ratios and SD ratios comparing Size Korea to Size USA and NHANES showed significant and large differences in weight, waist circumference, and BMI, except stature (mean difference ratios: 0.6~0.8%; SD ratios: 1.2 times), for Americans compared to Koreans, with larger differences for females compared to males. Lastly, compared to Size Korea, the mean difference ratios and SD ratios increased from Size USA (mean difference ratios: 9.6~15.6%; SD ratio: 1.2~2.0 times) to NHANES (mean difference ratios: 22.3~26.8%; SD ratios: 1.8~2.8 times).
Conclusion: The present study identified significant differences in weight, waist circumference, and BMI between Koreans and Americans, particularly among females, where Americans exhibited greater average values and variability compared to Koreans, with differences increasing further from Size USA to NHANES. Future research is needed to compare the anthropometric data of Koreans with those from various countries and to link the corresponding comparative results to the design of products targeting the global market.
Application: The results of this study indicate that the range of a sizing system and the adjustment range of a product design should be expanded more for design dimensions related to width, depth, and circumference, rather than those related to height, to adequately accommodate both Koreans and Americans with higher levels of obesity in product design.