Abstract: Water displacement method has been used to obtain the volume distribution functions of children's limb segments, on a sample of British children aged from 8 to 16. Based on the volume distribution data and certain hypothesis about the relation of volume and mass, the inertial characteristics, including the position of centre of gravity, the moment of inertia, and the radius of gyration, have been calculated. The data obtained were compared with the previous ones and their significance in growth studies were discussed. The author believes that besides their biomechanical background, these inertial characteristics have also their potential as growth indications.

Key words: Children growth; Biomechanical characteristics; Mass centre; Moment of inertia