How to Calculate Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio

By eHow Health Editor

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People who tend to accumulate fat around their midsection are more likely to develop conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes than those who gain weight around their hips and thighs. Follow these simple steps to find out whether you are at risk for weight-related health conditions.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Step1

Stand with your stomach relaxed.

Step2

Find the narrowest point at your waist and measure. Write down the measurement.

Step3

Find the widest point of your hips and buttocks and measure. Write down this measurement.

Step4

Divide the calculation from step 2 by the calculation from step 3. This is your waist-to-hip ratio.

Tips & Warnings

For weight to be considered healthy, women should have a waist-to-hip ratio of less than 0.8. A healthy waist-to-hip ratio for men is less than 0.9. If you have a ratio that is higher than that, you may have an increased risk for weight-related health conditions.
Improving your exercise habits and diet can help keep this ratio down - and can decrease your risk of weight-related diseases.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 My husband has a huge belly. He argues with me that he doesn't have a health risk because you tell him to measure the narrowest part of his waist. So he puts the tape measure underneath the belly where his jeans waistband hits. No good, but you're the authority he quotes.

If the belly protrudes, the waist is no longer the "narrowest part."