Intersex differences in craniocervical morphology and posture in southern Chinese and British Caucasians

The aim of this study was to compare intersex differences in the angular relationships of the head, the cervical column, and the true vertical in natural head posture (the "postural variables") for unselected samples of southern Chinese (n = 240) and British Caucasian (n = 80) 12-year-old children in Hong Kong. For both samples the cervical spine was angulated significantly more forwardly in the females (P less than or equal to 0.001) and the head held higher relative to the spine. Cervical lordosis was also greater in the females and the cervical column of greater relative length. Our findings are in agreement with comparable data previously reported for a northern Finnish population.