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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2023; 56(03): 238-244
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761596
Original Article

Facial Anthropometric Analysis of a Representative Subset in an Average Kerala Population: A Pilot Study

Madhavi Chitta
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, India
,
Lekshmi Malathi 
1   Department of Plastic Surgery, Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, India
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Abstract

Background The Neoclassical canons, originally framed based on the Renaissance artworks, vary across genders, races, and ages. This has been proved in multiple studies conducted on the Western population, but minimal studies exist on the Eastern population and lesser so on the Indian population. This study aims to define the standard Keralite face and assess its variation from the canons.

Methods A total of 250 people of Kerala origin aged 18 to 40 years were studied over a period of 1 year in our institute. Standardized frontal and profile photographs of the subjects were taken. Twenty anthropometric measurements were taken and analyzed for variation between genders, from published Indian standards and their conformity to the Neoclassical canons.

Results Compared to the Keralite men, there were significant differences in 14 of 19 measurements in Keralite women. The men had wider and longer faces than women. Five of 10 measurements in females and 6 of 10 measurements in males significantly differed from the published Indian norms. The average Keralite face was wider, longer, and rounder. None of the facial proportions fit the Neoclassical canons.

Conclusion The average Keralite face significantly differed from the Neoclassical canons and there were some significant variations between genders. This study highlights the need for a larger population-based study with more representation from various regions across India.

Keywords

Keralite face - neoclassical canons - facial analysis - South Indian face

Note

This study was conducted as thesis for M.Ch. Plastic Surgery course by the first author. It was submitted to and approved by the Kerala University of Health Sciences.


Author Contributions

M.C. was responsible for collection of data, analysis, and preparation of the manuscript. L.M. contributed with study design, supervised the data collection and analysis, reviewed and approved the final manuscript.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
21 February 2023

© 2023. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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