Sexual and racial facial biometric characteristics of malaysian adult population in relation to the body mass index

The most prominent part of the human being body is the facial features which are used specifically for human identification and also essential for approaching patients during craniofacial reconstructive surgery and other medical conditions. Facial features can be influenced by the age, gender, race and may be body built. Hence, the aim of the current study is to distinguish the sexual and racial facial biometric characteristics among the Malaysian adult population in relation to body mass index [BMI]. A descriptive study was conducted to measure ten facial features along with the body mass index in 136 respondents including adults from the three main Malaysian races. 73 of them were from Malay population, 36 from Indian population, while the rest 27 is from Chinese population. This study consists of 72 females and 64 males in total. There are ten studied facial measurements included. Among the studied ten facial measurements, there are few are influenced by BMI [biorbital breadth “BOB” which was significantly correlated with BMI in females in all the Malaysian races] while the other measurements were variably affected. On the whole, predominantly facial biometric characteristics affected by gender and race which can be related to the effect of genetics or hormones on the development pattern. So, it can be concluded from these results that the BMI is resistant from affecting the Malaysian facial features.