USSA Currently offers the following courses listed below.  Dates for 2007-8 courses have not been set.

Level 1 Anthropometry - Body Composition Measurement Course

Course Description:

The total time for this level is 36 hours.  Only practical skills are required to be assessed, theory assessment is optional.  There are 3 components in the Level 1 course.

Practical:

•10 hours of supervised practical sessions

Theory:

•6 hours total
•4 hours of core subjects:  anatomy, technical error of measurement, calibration and body composition
•2 hours of optional subjects:  health and body composition, scaling, somatotyping, anthropometry and sports performance.

Content Rationale

It is important that all anthropometrists are competent in the practical manipulation skills of anthropometry and it is for this reason that there is such a strong emphasis on this component for a Level 1 course.  It is also important that there is consistency and standard practices in the accumulation of anthropometric data irrespective of the purpose of the data.

The practical component is limited to the ‘restricted profile’ which includes nine skinfolds, five girths, two breadths, height and mass.  These data allow for the analyses which pertain to body composition.
•% body fat using a number of regression equations
•body mass index (BMI)
•percentile calculations

The theory components in Level 1 include four compulsory subjects.

Anatomy
Basic anatomy of the musculo-skeletal system is essential for identifying the body landmarks used in locating measurement sites.

Technical error of measurement
It is necessary to include TEM analysis in a Level 1 course to enable students to analyse their own performance as anthropometrists in determining their measurement precision, and in comparing themselves with criterion anthropometrists.

Calibration
Since the restricted profile which is used at Level 1 includes nine skinfold sites, it is essential that students understand how skinfold calipers work, simple procedures for calibration of jaw gaps and pressures, and essential maintenance requirements.

Body Composition
The concepts of body composition and the limitations of regression equations, BMI and densitometry should be made clear.  Many workers in the field are concerned with % body fat.  It is likely that a number of students in the course will be working in health related areas where % body fat from regression equations is believed to be the ‘law’ rather than an estimation.

In addition to these core requirements, Level 1 includes 2 hours of optional theory work, which might include the following subjects:

•Health aspects of body composition
•Scaling systems
•Somatotyping
•Relationship between body size, shape, composition and sports performance.

These optional theory units chosen should be congruent with the specific interests of the student group.  It is anticipated that the Level 1 courses will engender in the students an awareness of and concern for the study of anthropometry and desire to ensure that all practitioners will work toward the international standards of measurement and theoretical understanding of the concepts involved.

Educational Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:

•Identify all required landmarks, using a skeleton, diagram and on a subject:  acromiale, radiale, mid-acromiale-radiale, xiphoidale, iliospinale, ilio-axilla line and the iliocristale landmarks.
•Identify the skinfold, girth and bone bredth sites using appropriate landmarks
•Demonstrate the use of skinfold calipers, measuring tape, small sliding (bone) calipers and stadiometer for the measurement of skinfolds, girths, bone breadths and height as required for the restricted profile.
•Take repeated measures, in correct sequence, of all items in the restricted profile:  triceps, subscapular, biceps iliac crest, supraspinale, abdominal, front thigh, medial calf, and mid-axilla skinfolds; arm (relaxed), arm (flexed and tensed), waist (minimum), gluteal (hips), calf (maximum) girths;  humerus and femur breadths.
•Calculate the technical error of measurement (TEM) for duplicate measures using a computer.
•Achieve TEMs within recommended limits for all groups of measures in the restricted profile:  intra-measurer TEM of <10% for skinfolds and <2% for other measures;  inter-measurer (i.e., student versus level 3 or 4) will be <12.5% for skinfolds and <2.5% for all other measurements
•Understand the use of TEMs for determining the confidence limits for a single measurement, for deciding whether a real change has occurred in an individual over time, and for reducing confidence limits by taking multiple measurements.
•Calculate body density and % body fat values using the Siri equation and a selection of appropriate regression equations
•Satisfy the assessment requirements