The relevance of the side-view in body image scales for public health: an example from two African populations

BACKGROUND: Body size scales are a common method for diagnosing body image disturbances and assessing the cultural valorisation of stoutness, a phenomenon that plays a role in the development of overweight, especially among African populations. Traditionally, body size scales present a front view. In this study, we evaluated a complementary model of representing body shape: the side view of body outlines. In particular, we examined the association between the side-view and a set of bio-anthropometric indices in men and women. METHODS: To cover the inter-ethnic variability in the Niger-Congo area, we selected a balanced sex-ratio sample of 80 Cameroonians and 81 Senegalese. Individuals wearing close-fitting clothes were photographed from the front-and side-view, and measured following a bio-anthropometric protocol synthesizing body shape variation: Body Mass Index, percentage body fat, somatotype profile, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, mean blood pressure and glycaemia. The shape of each front and side body outline was extracted and characterised by Normalized Elliptic Fourier Descriptors (NEFD). Finally, we assessed associations between NEFD and bio-anthropometric indices. RESULTS: Variation in the shape of both front and side body outlines was associated with all bio-anthropometrics for at least one sex-population combination. Overall, the side view best captured body shape variation related to changes in almost all bio-anthropometrics in both sexes and populations, with the exceptions of female mesomorphy, male blood pressure and glycaemia (in both sexes). We found that the details of the relationship between bio-anthropometrics and body shape differed between the two male populations, a finding that was reflected in side-views for all criteria, but not front-views. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in body shape assessed by several bio-anthropometrics related to health and nutritional status was larger for side than front body outlines. Integrating side views in body size scales would improve the accuracy of body size assessment and thus, the assessment of behaviours leading to overweight, as well as symptoms of body image disturbances, in Africa and potentially in other populations. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2511-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.