ABSTRACT

Although body aesthetics vary in different individuals and societies, some basic principles may be universal. It may be possible to quantify a ‘common feeling’ on what degree of body deformity is acceptable from the cosmetic point of view. The hypothesis that a number of randomly selected individuals can represent the general population and give their opinion

on body cosmesis has been tested in subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (Theologis 1991).