ISAK Body Composition Analysis Level 1
May 2026 (exact dates TBC) | 3 full days

The level 1 ISAK Anthropometry course is designed for sport and exercise students, nutritionists, sports rehabilitators and physiotherapists and is a requirement in order to undertake body composition analysis.

These measurements include bases (stature and mass), skinfolds and some girths and breadths, and can be applied to a wide range of needs such as monitoring growth and maturation, identification and support of talented athletes, assessing health status, and evaluating exercise and nutrition interventions.

ISAK has developed international standards for anthropometric assessment and an international anthropometry accreditation scheme (IAAS). The accreditation scheme is based on the concept of a four-level hierarchy. A key element in it is the objective maintenance of quality assurance by requiring that all levels have to meet initial technical error of measurement (TEM).

Kinanthropometry is the area of science concerned with the measurement of human body composition. As a result of changes in life styles, nutrition, activity levels and ethnic compositon of populations, changes to the distribution of body dimensions are forever occurring. Kinanthropometry is the interface between anatomy and movement. It takes the measurement of the human body and determines it's capability for function and movement in a range of settings.

The Department of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation is committed to delivering excellence in every aspect of work it undertakes.  We recognise that in a world that is constantly changing, we need to provide stakeholders with the current knowledge and expertise to succeed whether they are students, researchers, employers or business.

CONTENT AND ASSESSMENT

The course is taught and assessed over 3-days, with a combination of theory and practice through a combination of lectures, problem-based learning and practicals. Theoretical components of the course include topics such as anatomy, body composition, somatotype and statistics. Practical application includes the measurement of a Restricted Profile (stature, mass, eight skinfolds, five girths and two breadths) adhering to the standards required by ISAK. You will study how these measures enable the monitoring of health and growth variables and also how they can be used to identify a person's somatotype. 

The course is assessed by two methods, which lead to Level 1 accreditation and membership of ISAK:

Demonstration of accurate precision in the assessment of a Restricted Profile. The demonstration will be assessed on intra-tester reliability (how repeatable your own measurements are) and inter-tester reliability (how accurate you are compared with criterion measures).  

Evidence of post-course application of the practical skills, which requires submission of 20 profiles within a 4-month period.