Your eyes might be the window to your soul, but your face could be an indicator of your body mass index (BMI), so say researchers at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, who have developed an algorithm that can analyze a mugshot and predict a person's BMI.
Researchers studied 14,500 faces of people with known BMIs. The predicted BMIs using the software were mostly within two or three points of the person's actual BMI.
According to the lead researcher, the software could be used in smart health applications, relating face images to BMI and associated health risks. The algorithm assesses seven weight-related components in a face image, including the ratios of cheekbone width to jaw width, face length to cheekbone width and the average distance between eyebrow and eye. Article