Standards

Anthropometric data published in national and international standards (e.g. DIN 33402; CEN ISO/TR 7250) are generally representative. These standards generally include the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile values. For the most part, they state separate data for men and women and in some cases also for different age groups. Information on the measurement method used can be found in separate standards or parts of standards (e.g. EN ISO 7250-1) or in further documents. Some standards provide users with assistance that has been developed for specific areas of application (such as EN ISO 3411, which contains information on the form of body posture and allowances for clothing etc.). Standards do not explain the reasons for the biological variability, and often lack information on variation in individual dimensions during application (for example owing to the influence of clothing). The dimensions in standards are generally the body dimensions without clothing, as obtained by means of the standardized method. 

A list of all standards referred to in this guide can be found under FAQ/Glossary/List of standards.

Data from recent measurement campaigns, such as the "Size Germany" project (www.sizegermany.de) conducted in recent years in which over 70 human body dimensions reflecting the entire German population were compiled, are not normally available to standards developers and designers. 

The figurines in the image below show examples of body dimensions that can be found in the relatively accessible manuals and selected standards. The following table provides an overview of the publications from which the body dimensions shown in the figurines were sourced.

Sample values for human body dimensions in DIN 33402-2 can be found in Warning information on body dimensions (examples). These dimensions are accompanied by warning information that may be relevant to their application.