New studies have revealed that the shape of a person’s face could determine that individual’s risk of having high blood pressure.
Face shape is linked to a person’s wellbeing and how attractive they are to mate with, a study found.
People perceive slim faces to be healthier, with others assuming low facial fat is associated with good blood pressure, the findings add.
Researchers have come up with ‘healthy’ faces according to the ideal body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat, blood pressure and overall wellbeing.
Study author Dr Ian Stephen from Macquarie University in Sydney, said: ‘The results suggest that our brains have evolved mechanisms for extracting health information from people’s faces, allowing us to identify healthy people to mate with.
‘The findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that the face contains valid, perceptible cues to physiological health’.
The researchers hope the findings may lead to the future development of a tool that diagnoses health conditions based on patients’ faces.
High blood pressure affects around 32 per cent of adults in the US and one in four in the UK, putting people at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.