Fruit, Vegetable and Dietary Carotenoid Intakes Explain Variation in Skin-Color in Young Caucasian Women:  A Cross-Sectional Study

Pezdirc, Kristine; Hutchesson, Melinda J.; Whitehead, Ross; Ozakinci, Gözde; Perrett, David I.; Collins, Clare E.

doi:10.3390/nu7075251

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Another factor influencing skin coloration is diet. Higher fruit and vegetable intakes are related to a yellower appearance of the skin [35,40]. Women with higher BMI were found to consume less fruits and vegetables [40,41], which, in turn, might result in lower skin yellowness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BMI and WHR Are Reflected in Female Facial Shape and Texture: A Geometric Morphometric Image Analysis

et al. 2017

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BMI and WHR Are Reflected in Female Facial Shape and Texture: A Geometric Morphometric Image Analysis

et al. 2017

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“…Previous research has further shown that colour representation [ 24 , 44 , 45 ] and head position [ 25 ] influence the resulting image. Specifically, changes in face colour affect perceived health and attractiveness with higher judgements of redder faces [ 24 , 44 – 46 ] (but see Burriss et al [ 23 ]), while downward head tilt is perceived as more intimidating through the manipulation of fWHR [ 25 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focal Length Affects Depicted Shape and Perception of Facial Images

et al. 2016

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Static photographs are currently the most often employed stimuli in research on social perception. The method of photograph acquisition might affect the depicted subject’s facial appearance and thus also the impression of such stimuli. An important factor influencing the resulting photograph is focal length, as different focal lengths produce various levels of image distortion. Here we tested whether different focal lengths (50, 85, 105 mm) affect depicted shape and perception of female and male faces. We collected three portrait photographs of 45 (22 females, 23 males) participants under standardized conditions and camera setting varying only in the focal length. Subsequently, the three photographs from each individual were shown on screen in a randomized order using a 3-alternative forced-choice paradigm. The images were judged for attractiveness, dominance, and femininity/masculinity by 369 raters (193 females, 176 males). Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) was measured from each photograph and overall facial shape was analysed employing geometric morphometric methods (GMM). Our results showed that photographs taken with 50 mm focal length were rated as significantly less feminine/masculine, attractive, and dominant compared to the images taken with longer focal lengths. Further, shorter focal lengths produced faces with smaller fWHR. Subsequent GMM revealed focal length significantly affected overall facial shape of the photographed subjects. Thus methodology of photograph acquisition, focal length in this case, can significantly affect results of studies using photographic stimuli perhaps due to different levels of perspective distortion that influence shapes and proportions of morphological traits.

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“…Fruit and vegetable consumption is related to the skin yellowness ( b *) axis of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) L * a * b * colour space, where L * represents skin lightness and positive values of a * and b * represents degrees of redness and yellowness, respectively (Pezdirc et al, ; Stephen, Coetzee, & Perrett, ). Self‐reported increases in fruit and vegetable intake over a 6‐week period have shown to be associated with a measurable increase in skin yellowness ( b *) and redness ( a *) (Whitehead, Re, Xiao, Ozakinci, & Perrett, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of carotenoid and melanin colouration in faces among young Australian adults

Pezdirc

Rollo

Whitehead

et al. 2018

Australian Journal of Psychology

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Objective: Human skin colour is influenced by three pigments: haemoglobin, carotenoids, and melanin. Carotenoids are abundant in fruits and vegetables, and when consumed accumulate in all layers of the skin, predominantly imparting yellowness (b*). This study investigated the effect of the manipulation of carotenoid-based skin colour, relative to the skin colour conferred by melanin on the perceptions of health amongst a group of Australian adults. Method: Fifty-seven participants (n = 4 male; mean age 27.9 AE 7.5 years) completed three computer-based experiments on 50 trial faces. In the first two experiments, face image colour was manipulated along one or two independent single carotenoid or melanin axes on each trial to 'make the face appear as healthy as possible'. In the third trial, face colour was manipulated on both the carotenoid and melanin axes simultaneously. Results: For the single axis, participants significantly increased melanin colouration and added carotenoid colouration to facial images that were initially low in skin yellowness (b*). When carotenoid and melanin axes were simultaneously manipulated, carotenoid colouration was raised (ΔE = 3.15 (SE AE0.19)) and melanin colouration was lowered (ΔE = −1.04 (SE AE0.1)). Conclusions: Young Australian adults perceive facial skin colouration, associated with both carotenoid intake from fruit and vegetables and melanin due to sun exposure as conveying the appearance of health in young adults. However, carotenoid colouration was more important to health perception.

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Fruit, Vegetable and Dietary Carotenoid Intakes Explain Variation in Skin-Color in Young Caucasian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 23 publications

References 33 publications

BMI and WHR Are Reflected in Female Facial Shape and Texture: A Geometric Morphometric Image Analysis

BMI and WHR Are Reflected in Female Facial Shape and Texture: A Geometric Morphometric Image Analysis

Focal Length Affects Depicted Shape and Perception of Facial Images

Perceptions of carotenoid and melanin colouration in faces among young Australian adults

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