Abstract: To study the characteristics and patterns of somatotypic growth in Tibetan adolescents, somatotypes of 2530 Tibetan adolescents were evaluated using the Heath-Carter anthropometric method. In this research, we found that the average somatotype of males was mesomorphic and ectomorphic (2.40 —3.29 —3.72) whereas in females, the average somatotype was central (3.65 —2.87 —3.32). The primary somatotype in males was ectomorphy (58.52 %) and endomorphy in females (32.62 %). It was noted that with increasing age, male somatotypes developed from mesomorph-ectomorphy, mesomorphic-ectomorphy to mesomorph-ectomorphy, however in females the pattern is from ectomorph- endomorphy, balanced ectomorphy, ectomorph-endomorphy ectomorphic endomorphy to balanced endomorphy. It is concluded that the somatotypes of Tibetan adolescent males and females are slender with males being more muscular and females having more body fat.

Key words: Somatotype; Tibetan; Adolescent; Heath-Carter anthropometric method