Background : Cephalometry is a technique that summarizes the anatomical complexities of the head of a human being living within a geometrical framework. The study of craniofacial relations and variations in humans has been used for different racial groups in physical anthropology. Cephalic variables such as head breadth, head length, head circumference and cephalic index (CI) are all anthropometric parameters which are used to deduce the pattern of growth in children.

Objectives : The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of CI with some anthropometric variables.

Methods : This study was conducted on 224 rural ICDS children aged 3-6 years from Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India.

Results : Significant sex differences in maximum head length (t=4.55, p < 0.001), and two indices such as, cephalic (t = 3.0, p < 0.01) and Body Mass index (t = 2.58, p < 0.05) were noticed. BMI as well as CI showed significant impact of age changes. The mean CI gradually decreased with
the increase of the age groups of the children of both the sexes. More than 50% of the boys were hyperbrachycephalic, while among the girls, maximum were brachycephalic (32.3%). CI was to some extent highly (p < 0.001) negatively correlated with age and height among the girls. In case
of boys, except age (negatively correlated, p< 0.05), neither height nor weight were significantly correlated with CI. BMI was not significantly correlated with CI.