ArticleFrontiers in psychology2017
Facial Shape Analysis Identifies Valid Cues to Aspects of Physiological Health in Caucasian, Asian, and African Populations.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- The evaluation of facial features as markers of cardiometabolic health in women of post-reproductive age.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Real-time and digital remote nutritional assessment framework with the use of smartphone-enabled facial morphometrics and machine learning- a proof of concept.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Observational
- 3D facial imaging: a novel approach for metabolic abnormalities risk profiling.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Article
- Mate assessment based on physical characteristics: a review and reflection.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Is the human face a biomarker of health? - A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Association between the three-dimensional facial shape and its color in a boundary group of young to middle-aged Asian women.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Cheeks appearance as a novel predictor of obstructive sleep apnea: the CASA score study.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2024Observational
- Using Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools in Cosmetic Surgery: A Study on Rhinoplasty, Facelifts, and Blepharoplasty Procedures.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Influence of the nutritional status on facial morphology in young Japanese women.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Use of Facial Morphology to Determine Nutritional Status in Older Adults: Opportunities and Challenges.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2022Article
- Changes in Computer-Analyzed Facial Expressions with Age.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- E-perceptions and Business 'Mating': The Communication Effects of the Relative Width of Males' Faces in Business Portraits.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Association of Craniofacial and Upper Airway Morphology with Cardiovascular Risk in Adults with OSA.Nature and science of sleep · 2021Article
- Article
- Identification of the Facial Features of Patients With Cancer: A Deep Learning-Based Pilot Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- The Esthetic Difference of Chinese Beauty Evaluated by Two Different Human Races Based on Three-Dimensional Average Face Analysis.The Journal of craniofacial surgery · 2019Article
- What Are Important Ethical Implications of Using Facial Recognition Technology in Health Care?AMA journal of ethics · 2019Article
- Skin Color Preferences in a Malaysian Chinese Population.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Facial Adiposity, Attractiveness, and Health: A Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2018Review
- The Relative Contribution of Jawbone and Cheekbone Prominence, Eyebrow Thickness, Eye Size, and Face Length to Evaluations of Facial Masculinity and Attractiveness: A Conjoint Data-Driven Approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Facial cues contribute to attractiveness, including shape cues such as symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism. These cues may represent cues to objective aspects of physiological health, thereby conferring an evolutionary advantage to individuals who find them attractive. The link between facial cues and aspects of physiological health is therefore central to evolutionary explanations of attractiveness. Previously, studies linking facial cues to aspects of physiological health have been infrequent, have had mixed results, and have tended to focus on individual facial cues in isolation. Geometric morphometric methodology (GMM) allows a bottom-up approach to identifying shape correlates of aspects of physiological health. Here, we apply GMM to facial shape data, producing models that successfully predict aspects of physiological health in 272 Asian, African, and Caucasian faces - percentage body fat (21.0% of variance explained), body mass index (BMI; 31.9%) and blood pressure (BP; 21.3%). Models successfully predict percentage body fat and blood pressure even when controlling for BMI, suggesting that they are not simply measuring body size. Predicted values of BMI and BP, but not percentage body fat, correlate with health ratings. When asked to manipulate the shape of faces along the physiological health variable axes (as determined by the models), participants reduced predicted BMI, body fat and (marginally) BP, suggesting that facial shape provides a valid cue to aspects of physiological health.
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