Why You Should Know Your Waist to Height Ratio

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In addition to the body mass index, the waist to height ratio is another means by which health care professionals estimate an individual's body composition in order to evaluate his overall health.

 

Although the body mass index (BMI) is generally more well known than the waist to height ratio for measuring body composition, many physicians believe this ratio to be the better of the two. This superiority is due to the fact that BMI can be skewed by an individual's frame or quantity of muscle mass. For example, a man with a significant amount of muscle mass may be indexed as overweight or obese by the body mass index even though he has a low level of body fat. In fact, the European Congress on Obesity recently stated that this ratio is the best way to predict a person's risk of serious health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Unlike BMI, the ratio of waist to height is based on waist size, which is the most dangerous place to carry weight (abdominal fat). Specifically, abdominal fat induces insulin resistance with impaired glucose tolerance, leading eventually to diabetes, atherosclerosis, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, the waist to height ratio takes into account an individual's frame so a sizeable amount of muscle mass will not skew the results.

How to Determine Your Ratio

First, measure your waist size in inches with a tape measure at the belly button. Do not measure your waist where your pants sit because this is often smaller than your waist at the belly button. It is important to actually measure your waist size and not rely on your pant size because many clothing manufactures actually make their sizes larger than they state on the label to avoid offending customer. Then, divide you waist measurement in inches by your height in inches and multiply by 100.

The following list provides the descriptions of the results:

Any ratio below 35% is underweight. Any ratio between 35 and 43% is healthy (slim). Any ratio between 43 and 53% is healthy. Any ratio between 53 and 58% is overweight. Any ratio between 58 and 63% is seriously overweight, and ratio above 63% is morbidly obese. Consult your physician or weight loss specialist if you fall into the seriously overweight or obese categories. A combination of exercise and healthy eating work best to combat weight gain.

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How Much Should I Weigh For My Age & Height?

Original article date: 23 May 2010, Article updated: 4 March 2014

One of the most common questions received in our feedback emails is "how much should I weigh for my age and height?" In this article, we will explain the most common ways in which this can be calculated. 

 

To determine how much you should weigh (your ideal body weight) several factors should be considered, including age, muscle-fat ratio, height, sex, and bone density. 

Some people suggest that calculating your Body Mass Index (BMI) is the best way to decide whether your body weight is ideal. Others say that BMI is faulty as it does not account for muscle mass and that waist-hip ratio is better. 

One person's ideal body weight may be completely different from another's. If you compare yourself to family and friends you risk either aiming too high if you are surrounded by obese or overweight people, or too low if everyone around you works as fashion models. 

Even comparing yourself with people outside your immediate surroundings may not work.

The levels of overweight and obesity in one country, such as the USA or UK, are much higher than in The Netherlands. So a Dutch person may aim for a lower ideal weight than an American if all he did was to compare himself to other people. 

A recent study may have turned national guidelines on people’s ideal weight on its head. Researchers found that overweight people have a lower all-cause mortality risk compared to those of normal weight.

Is Body Mass Index (BMI) a good measure?

Your BMI is your weight in relation to your height.

• BMI metric units: Your weight (kilograms) divided by the square of your height (meters)
  e.g. Weight 80 kilograms. Height 1.8 meters.
  1.8² meters = 3.24
  80 divided by 3.24 = BMI 24.69.
• Imperial units: Your weight (pounds) times 703, divided by the square of your height in inches.
  e.g. Weight 190 pounds. Height 6 ft (72 inches)
  72² = 5184
  190 x 703 divided by 5184 = BMI 25.76

Health authorities worldwide mostly agree that:

• People with a BMI of less than 18.5 are underweight.
• A BMI of between 18.5 and 25 is ideal.
• Somebody with a BMI between 25 and 30 is classed as overweight.
• A person with a BMI over 30 is obese.

In some countries health authorities say the lower limit for BMI is 20, anything below it is underweight.

Calculate Your BMI

To calculate your BMI you can use our metric BMI calculator below (requires Flash) or, alternatively, use our more comprehensive BMI Calculator.

What is the problem with BMI?

BMI is a very simple measurement which does not take into account the person's waist, chest or hip measurements. An Olympic 100 meters sprint champion may have a BMI higher than a couch potato of the same height. The couch potato may have a big belly, not much muscle and a lot of body fat on his hips, upper thighs, in his blood and other parts of his body. While the athlete will have a smaller waist, much less body fat, and most likely enjoy better health. According to a purely BMI criteria, the couch potato is healthier. 

BMI does not take into account bone density (bone mass). A person with severe osteoporosis (very low bone density) may have a lower BMI than somebody else of the same height who is healthy, but the person with osteoporosis will have a larger waist, more body fat and weak bones. 

Many experts criticize BMI as not generally useful in evaluation of health. It is at best a rough ballpark basic standard that may indicate population variations, but should not be used for individuals in health care. 

Put simply: experts say that BMI underestimates the amount of body fat in overweight/obese people and overestimates it in lean or muscular people. 

More information on BMI, together with imperial and metric BMI calculators, is available here.

Nick Trefethen, a Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University's Mathematical Institute, has created what he believes to be a better, more accurate and relevant formula than the BMI one for deciding whether people are carrying too much fat. Humans do not grow equally in all three dimensions, he explains - the existing BMI formula presumes we do.