Data from: BMI and WHR are reflected in female facial shape and texture: a geometric morphometric image analysis

Facial markers of body composition are frequently studied in evolutionary psychology and are important in computational and forensic face recognition. We assessed the association of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with facial shape and texture (color pattern) in a sample of young Middle European women by a combination of geometric morphometrics and image analysis. Faces of women with high BMI had a wider and rounder facial outline relative to the size of the eyes and lips, and relatively lower eyebrows. Furthermore, women with high BMI had a brighter and more reddish skin color than women with lower BMI. The same facial features were associated with WHR, even though BMI and WHR were only moderately correlated. Yet BMI was better predictable than WHR from facial attributes. After leave-one-out cross-validation, we were able to predict 25% of variation in BMI and 10% of variation in WHR by facial shape. Facial texture predicted only about 3-10% of variation in BMI and WHR. This indicates that facial shape primarily reflects total fat proportion, rather than the distribution of fat within the body. The association of reddish facial texture in high-BMI women may be mediated by increased blood pressure and superficial blood flow as well as diet. Our study elucidates how geometric morphometric image analysis serves to quantify the effect of biological factors such as BMI and WHR to facial shape and color, which in turn contributes to social perception.体成分相关面部特征在进化心理学领域常被研究，同时在计算人脸识别与法医人脸识别中具有重要应用价值。本研究结合几何形态测量法（geometric morphometrics）与图像分析技术，针对中欧年轻女性群体样本，探究了体质量指数（body mass index, BMI）与腰臀比（waist-to-hip ratio, WHR）和面部形态及纹理（色彩模式）之间的关联。结果显示，BMI较高的女性，其面部轮廓相较于眼唇尺寸更为宽圆，且眉部位置相对偏低；此外，高BMI女性的皮肤颜色较低BMI女性更为鲜亮且偏红。尽管BMI与WHR仅呈中等程度相关，但上述面部特征同样与WHR存在关联。不过，通过面部特征预测BMI的效果优于预测WHR。经留一交叉验证（leave-one-out cross-validation）后，我们可通过面部形态预测BMI变异的25%与WHR变异的10%；而面部纹理仅能解释BMI与WHR约3%至10%的变异。这表明面部形态主要反映整体脂肪占比，而非体脂的局部分布。高BMI女性面部纹理偏红的关联，可能由血压升高、浅表血流量增加以及饮食因素介导。本研究阐明了几何形态测量图像分析技术如何量化BMI、WHR等生物学因素对面部形态与色彩的影响，而此类面部特征亦会影响社会感知。