The Rees-Eysenck Body Index and Sheldon's Somatotype System

Abstract

In a recent paper, Parnell (1957) has criticized the Rees-Eysenck Body Index (Rees and Eysenck, 1945) on a number of grounds. He also showed that high values on the index corresponded to high values of Sheldon's ectomorphy component, while low values on the index corresponded to low values of the ectomorphy component, and high values of the endomorphy and more particularly the mesomorphy components. In this paper a brief attempt will be made to answer Parnell's criticisms and indicate why the Rees-Eysenck Body Index appears to be preferable to the Sheldon system.