Navels come in all manner of shapes influenced by how the umbilical cord was cut, the healing process, body structure, and other factors such as body fat and abdominal wall structure.In cosmetic surgery, if the distance from your chest bone to your belly button (navel), compared to the distance from your navel to the lower part of your tummy, is close to that number, doctors say the abdomen looks nicely balanced.
Turns out Kenyans, especially men, are different.
Plastic surgeons at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) made an unusual request to examine the belly buttons of patients, hospital staff, students, and even visiting family members of inpatients, between November 2023 and January 2024.
The 411 adults who agreed (62 per cent men) were aged 18-65 years. They signed consent forms and were led to a private examination room at the hospital, in the presence of a nurse and a companion of their choice.
Participants lay on their backs during the examination.
The results could change how plastic surgeries are done in Kenya.
The surgeons found that Kenyan belly buttons tend to sit slightly lower on the abdomen than international averages. The average Kenyan umbilical ratio is 1.69, not the global 1.62. Men showed a higher ratio of 1.74, which means their navels were positioned notably lower, while women averaged 1.62, almost perfectly matching the classic golden ratio. Body weight also played a role — individuals with higher BMI tended to have belly buttons positioned slightly higher on the abdomen.
The results were published last week in the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in a paper titled, "Defining Umbilical Norms in Kenya: A Morphometric Analysis of 411 Adults." This groundbreaking study is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. It was led by Dr Sama Fofung, a plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgeon at KNH.
Dr Benjamin Wabwire, KNH’s head of plastic and reconstructive surgery, and Dr Joseph Wanjeri, a plastic surgeon and a lecturer in the Department of Surgery at the University of Nairobi, also took part in the study.
The surgeons explained why the findings are important in their work: “Surgical procedures involving the umbilicus—such as abdominoplasty, umbilicoplasty, hernia repair, and body contouring after massive weight loss—rely on accurate, culturally appropriate references for umbilical location and shape.”
One intriguing discovery is that some Kenyans still prefer the golden ratio visually, even though their bodies do not follow it. The authors write: “Kenyan participants sometimes still favor 1.62 in side-by-side image comparisons—pointing to a divergence between the actual local ratio and individuals’ subjective aesthetic judgments.” They describe this as a classic cosmetic dilemma: “‘what we have’ versus ‘what we want’ can differ.”
The authors believe plastic and reconstructive surgeons should now start using Kenyan measurements, not imported ones. They propose a formula: “For abdominoplasty or isolated umbilicoplasty in Kenyan and similar East African patients, beginning with an X:U target of approximately 1.69—then fine-tuning by −0.03 per BMI unit and +0.10 for male sex—should recreate a position that aligns with local anatomical norms.”
They added: “These population-specific metrics provide Kenyan surgeons with a numeric and morphological template for anatomically precise abdominoplasty and umbilicoplasty.”
Another surprise of the study was the belly button shape. Now, navels come in all manner of shapes influenced by how the umbilical cord was cut, the healing process, body structure, and other factors such as body fat and abdominal wall structure.
But if your navel is not oval, you are an exception. The authors reported: “The oval contour was overall most common (49.6 per cent) followed by distorted/protruded (19.0 per cent), T-shaped (15.1 per cent), horizontal (11.2 per cent), and vertical (5.1 per cent).”
Kenyan men had even stronger dominance of the oval shape.
“Two-thirds of men have oval umbilici, versus a more diverse pattern in women,”
the authors said.
The participants were also asked if they favoured specific umbilical shapes, such as oval, vertical, or T-shaped.
The vertical navel shape emerged as the most popular, aligning with several Western studies that identify vertically oriented navels as aesthetically appealing.
