How is the study that scans the bodies of 14 thousand people and what will it serve in addition to complying with the size law

“We need to get to know each other. Get to know the people of the country from the point of view of the size, shape and proportions of their bodies. Information that, until now, we do not have”, says Sandra Jung, a graduate in Mathematics and coordinator of the Argentine Anthropometric Study (EAAr) carried out by the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) . She says it, precisely, with the certainty that this mystery is close to revealing itself.

On June 9, more than a year and a half after the enactment of what is known as the size law, the single standardized clothing size identification system (SUNITI) was regulated. The initiative, according to the enactment decree, seeks to ensure "access to unequivocal information on clothing sizes." It happens that in Argentina, as Jung says, there are no data on the average measurements of the population's bodies. The textile industry is governed by European tables. In practice, this leads many people to not find a size for them or that the measurements of a S, M, or L vary depending on who makes it .

The SUNITI regulations established a term of 240 days for the completion of the Argentine anthropometric study, a complex study that, in addition to being key to complying with the size law, will be useful for many other items besides textiles.

locally tailored

Since 2012 , AnyBody Argentina —an NGO of “activists for body diversity”, as defined by its Instagram account, which was one of the promoters of the size law— has conducted a national size survey that “seeks to know the availability of sizes at time to buy clothes and how users experience the experience of going to buy clothing and footwear”.

In the 2020 edition, in which 8,025 people between the ages of 12 and 88 participated , 65% said they had difficulties finding clothes in their size and more than 80% said that when they want to buy a garment they usually find that it is available in “size unique". "These are figures that, in general terms, remain constant through all the surveys since 2012," they say from AnyBody, which currently calls for completing the 2021 survey.

“ The anthropometric study is important because today garments are made based on bodies that do not exist in our territory ”, says Sami Alonso , volunteer at AnyBody and creator of Kalista, a sportswear brand with inclusive sizes. “Without the study we can do absolutely nothing. We need to know how tall are the men and women of Argentina”, she stresses.

Alonso highlights that “behind the situation of not finding clothes there are many things that happen to us, especially to femininities, in relation to our body. That there is a one-size-fits-all for women, as if we all had the same body, makes no sense."

“Not finding sizes is not only not finding them, but it is related to issues such as discrimination, self-perception. Many people feel bad about their body for not finding a size”, adds Mercedes Estruch , coordinator of the organization. "Not finding clothes violates the human right to identity: dressing is a human right," adds Alonso.

The AnyBody representatives clarify that the law does not end the problems in relation to sizes because it does not require the industry to have a curve in its offer, which contemplates several sizes. “It would be great if the industry took the commitment and had a minimally inclusive size curve. Something that the law suggests, but does not require,” says Estruch.

“We propose that there be more sizes, because that is how it works in the rest of the world. In other countries there is an industry that is more aware of body diversity”, adds Alonso.

A complex study that takes years

While civil society organizations such as AnyBody promoted the size law, INTI began to investigate the body proportions of the Argentine population.

“We knew that it was something that was being done in the world. We knew the importance of these studies. For this reason, in 2014 we bought the 3D scanner necessary for such a study and in 2015 we started in the province of Mendoza. Since 2017 we have been doing the survey systematically, but the pandemic stopped us,” says Jung about INTI's task.

Currently, the first Argentine anthropometric study has recorded the measurements of 7,500 people; 6,500 are missing to reach the 14,000 that are considered necessary. In other words, the work is 60% complete . The remaining regions are the Metropolitan Area of ​​Buenos Aires (AMBA) and Patagonia, in addition to some points from other regions that were pending, as is the case of Salta.

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The second and final stage of the study will begin on July 27 , when measures are taken at the Teatro Argentino de La Plata.

Anyone can participate as a volunteer by registering online (on the INTI site or from the Mi Argentina application) or by going to the public spaces where the measurements will be taken.

“We install ourselves in places with a lot of people flow so that the sample is representative and random. We were at the Cabildo de Córdoba or the main square of Rafaela”, exemplifies Jung.

"The anthropometric study of the INTI is developed from a unique equipment in the country: a 3D scanner that allows, through 16 infrared cameras, to take up to 400 measurements in 15 seconds", explains Rubén Geynaro , president of the INTI. Having such technology is key to optimizing time and being able to carry out research on a large scale.

Jung explains the operation: “First the person's height is measured, without shoes. Then, she is weighed in her underwear, in an area protected by curtains. Then, in 15 seconds, the infrared cameras do their job: a monitor in an adjoining space, where an operator is, reflects a body in 3D”. The process takes 15 minutes per person, as it includes a short interview.

From the INTI they emphasize that it is a safe procedure, that no one touches the person being measured and that health protocols are followed in the context of the pandemic.

For the preparation of the unique standardized system of identification of clothing sizes, some 50 variables will be taken from the 400 that the equipment allows to obtain. These variables include, in addition to height and weight, measurements such as the contours of the bust or chest, the back at shoulder height, the waist and hips, and the lengths of the legs and arms, among others.

What is interesting, Jung points out, is that the complete measurement will remain in a digital database from which in the future more data could be taken that today is not taken into account by SUNITI.

The information obtained in the interviews, in which socioeconomic variables are asked and if the person surveyed does physical activity, among other questions, will also be useful. After completing the survey, it will be time to process the data.

The challenges when taking measures of the national population

For the final stage of the survey, INTI plans to obtain a second 3D scanner. This is equipment that is not available in Argentina (the INTI equipment is from a North American company) and that costs around 25,000 dollars. It weighs about 350 kilos and you have to disassemble it to be able to carry it around the country.

“The main challenge of the survey is logistics. You have to travel, get to each place where the study is done with the scanner and the operators, calibrate it, disseminate the survey, spend at least three weeks and wait for the inhabitants of the area to find out, for those who pass through the area to enter be measured. Going from one place to another is not easy at all,” says Jung. And he adds that "it's not easy" to get enough male volunteers, who typically make up 40% of the sample, to come forward.

On the other hand, Jung clarifies that the fact that the sample is divided by regions allows "compensating" the quantities of bodies that are measured in one and the other. With this context, the long distances and low population density of Patagonia appear as a challenge.

“It's a quick study. If you want to do your bit for the country, you can lend your body a second”, he says as a harangue for people from the south and AMBA to join in this new stage. "It is very important that the population comes together to meet the necessary standards," supports Geynaro.

background in the world

Since the end of the last century, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, South Korea and China have invested in the purchase of 3D scanners to take anthropometric measurements of their population.

INTI took note of the need to have data of this type, which are accessible in other latitudes. And it was based on some experiences. “We take certain things from places like Spain, some from Germany and Mexico,” explains Jung. “For example, we use the same lower age limit, which is 12 years old, but we don't have an upper limit, unlike other countries. Other things we do not imitate. For example, Spain quotes volunteers by mail, but we found it impractical”, he adds.

Among the differences of the study carried out in Argentina with those of other countries, it stands out that while abroad it is usually private companies that develop it, here it is in charge of the State. "That it is carried out from a public body is that the State fulfills its role when it comes to guaranteeing rights," says Geynaro.

On the other hand, Jung points out that “history in other countries says that the body is changing”. Hence the importance of these studies being periodic. The law that creates SUNITI requires that they be carried out every ten years.

Necessary information beyond dressing

“In principle, the countries that have carried out these studies for decades have no problems with the clothes they make for their people. This is an incentive for us”, clarifies Jung.

Estruch, from AnyBody, says that Sharon Haywood, founder of the organization, “is Canadian and also lived in England. Until she arrived in Argentina, she had never had the problem of not finding clothes in her size”.

Systematizing the sizes will also serve to facilitate purchases on the internet: it is not strange, in Argentina, to buy a garment online and, upon receiving it and trying it on, it does not fit as expected. In fact, the origin of this type of study in the United States is linked to a request from the Association for Mail-order Sales in 1945, due to the need to standardize measures for purchases by mail.

But in addition to textiles, there are many other areas for which the developing anthropometric study will be useful. “When we have the INTI results we will be able to think about other issues. For example, we know that there are many people who have problems in the cinema, who are very uncomfortable in the seats or do not enter directly " Estruch points out.

The AnyBody coordinator considers that "the study will also serve to think about State furniture". And, returning to the issue of clothing, "so that universities begin to work with the body measurements of the region, because in careers such as Clothing Design, only one type of body is taught, with mannequins of certain measurements" .

For his part, the president of INTI highlights that the study can be useful to "designers who work in the workplace, for example, to manufacture office furniture, or also the automotive sector." For this reason, he says: "It seems important to us that they accompany us from all sectors and genres to provide the greatest possible precision."

Geneyro also emphasizes that having the data from the study will help the industry to better calculate its inputs and have less waste with the consequent environmental benefit. This is one of the points highlighted in Mexico , where in 2012 a study similar to the one carried out by Argentina was carried out.

Jung, meanwhile, also points out that the Argentine anthropometric study "will provide useful information for health prevention", since some body measurements are indicators of cardiac risk . In Mexico, when promoting the study, they also highlighted that knowing the bodies served the health sector to make prostheses.

There are many sectors to which this study could be a valuable input. Again: it is necessary to know how tall we Argentines are. There, around February 2022 and for the first time in history, the mystery will begin to unravel.

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This note is part of the Solutions for Latin America platform, an alliance between INFOBAE and RED/ACCION.