Phase Two Of National Childrenswear Survey Measures Size And Shape Of Preschool Children
Phase 2 of Shape GB; the national sizing survey is about to commence. Phase 1 was completed in early 2011; the first national survey in the world to use innovative 3D body scanners to measure children aged 4-17. The part public funded study involving Universities, major high street retailers and specialists in 3D measurement announced key findings in April 2011, highlighting changes in children since 1978 and how body shape has changed since then.
The sponsoring retailers, Next, Monsoon, Shop Direct and George at ASDA have started to improve and upgrade their own measurements using the data from Phase 1. The next phase of Shape GB, the measurement of babies and toddlers is the first comprehensive measurement for over 30 years and sponsored by M&S and Tesco. All retailers involved in the research will work in collaboration on implementation of the Shape GB data from both phases for the retail industry and beyond.
Shape GB provides, for the first time, a clear representation and understanding about the changing body shape of the nation’s children compared to the last published data from the British Standards Institute (BSI) in 1990. The 1990 standard was developed from a set of measurements collected in 1978; emphasising a need for a new industry standard. The data from Shape GB thus provides a new benchmark and insight into children’s size and shape.
Alan Wragg, Technical Director for Tesco clothing said: "Comprehensive sizing research of this kind is extremely beneficial and informative for both clothing retailers and customers. We look forward to understanding more about the results of the baby and toddler sizing survey.”
Rebecca Thompson, M&S’ Head of Innovation and Quality for Kidswear, said: “We’ve long supported clothing sizing surveys to ensure we offer the best fit for our customers. This new survey will help provide further insight for retailers into the changing body shape of babies and toddlers across the nation.”
Boys and girls aged 0-4 will be measured across England, Scotland and Wales, to obtain a representative sample of Great Britain. Over 20,000 manual measurements will be collected for Phase 2, managed by Select Research, which will provide data on over 600 babies and toddlers. The scope of the new anonymous data set will offer opportunities for further insight on changes in children’s body shape for clothing manufacturers, retailers, sports scientists, academics and for ongoing development of the new obesity measurement; the Body Volume Index in due course.
Richard Barnes, MD of Select Research and Project Director for Shape GB explained the significance of the new data: “There are national healthcare studies, which measure height, weight and waist circumference of babies and children, but these alone do not tell the full story. Body shapes of young children change very quickly as they grow and so leg length, chest width and the combination of numerous measurements can offer insight into how clothes can be manufactured more accurately. This also offers us a better understanding of what these changes in body shape really mean in other areas of life”.
The first phase of measurement for Shape GB will take place in Birmingham, Cardiff, West London and Edinburgh. For more information and for parents to register their children to take part, please visit www.shapegb.org.