Keep your waist to less than half your height - for health and physical attractiveness
Cardiometabolic risk
How your waist-to-height ratio impacts your life expectancy
WHtR |
30 year old
|
50 year old |
70 year old |
|||
Man
|
Woman |
Man |
Woman |
Man |
Woman |
|
0.5
|
0 |
0.1 |
0 |
0.1 |
0 |
0 |
0.6
|
1.7 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
0.7
|
7.2 |
4.6 |
5.8 |
4.1 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
over 0.8
|
20.2 |
10.6 |
14.3 |
9.2 |
6.7 |
5.9 |
WHtR: waist-to-height ratio
As shown in table 1, for a 30 year old man and woman, a high waist-to-height ratio over 0.8 can shorten life by as much as 20 and 10 years, respectively. For a 50 year old man and woman, a waist-to-height ratio of 0.7 may shorten life by 14 and 9 years, respectively. This study shows that your body shape can have serious consequences beyond mere physical attractiveness.
Waist-to-Height Ratio - keep your waist to less than half your height
Table 1: How to calculate your waist-to-height ratio, and effect of “waist loss” on the waist-to-height ratio.
|
Man |
Woman
|
Waist
|
40 inches |
35 inches |
Height
|
5’10 = 70 inches |
5’4 = 64 inches |
Waist-to-height ratio
|
40 / 70 = 0.57 |
35 / 64 = 0.55
|
Effect of “waist loss” - by exercise and improved food habits - on the waist-to-height ratio:
|
||
Waist
|
35 inches |
32 inches |
New waist-to-height ratio
|
35 / 70 = 0.5 |
32 / 64 = 0.5
|
How to interpret your waist-to-height ratio value
As mentioned above, a waist-to-height ratio below 0.5 is considered ideal. A more detailed interpretation of waist-to-height ratio values is given in table 2.
Table 2: Interpretation of waist-to-height ratio values.
Waist-to-height ratio
|
Body shape (see illustration below)
|
Comment |
0.35 |
you may have visible abs
|
- |
0.45 |
you are a healthy pear
|
- |
0.5 to 0.6 |
you are a pear-apple |
You have more fat around your waist than is healthy. Exercise more and chose better food options. A value close to 0.6 may indicate that you have testosterone deficiency.[13, 14]Ask your doctor to check your testosterone level.
|
above 0.61
|
you are an unhealthy apple
|
The fat around your waist is damaging your health and shortening your life expectancy.[10]You need to start exercising and eating healthier. You likely have testosterone deficiency.[13, 14]Tell your doctor you want to have your testosterone level checked.
|
I will cover the use of the waist-to-height ratio as a screening tool for testosterone deficiency, in an upcoming article.
To give you an idea about how different waist-to-height ratios look, the illustration bellows shows typical body shapes for a range of waist-to-height ratio values.
Look up your waist-height ratio in the Shape Chart
If you don’t have a calculator nearby you can easily look up your waist-to-height ratio “danger zone” in the Shape Chart® below. Just locate your waist and height numbers and see in what zone you end up in. In the Shape Chart® you can also easily see how much you need to reduce your waist to move into a healthier zone.
This Shape Chart® was developed by Dr. Margaret Ashwell, a leading scientist on the waist-to-height ratio and its implications for various health outcomes.
Why divide waist by height?
Applies to everybody, regardless of sex and ethnicity
Don’t expect your doctor to tell you
Summary
References:
1. Ashwell, M., A new shape chart for assessing the risks of obesity. Proc Nutr Soc, 1995. 54: p. 86A.
2. Ashwell, M., S. Lejeune, and K. McPherson, Ratio of waist circumference to height may be better indicator of need for weight management. BMJ, 1996. 312(7027): p. 377.
3. Ashwell, M., T.J. Cole, and A.K. Dixon, Ratio of waist circumference to height is strong predictor of intra-abdominal fat. BMJ, 1996. 313(7056): p. 559-60.
4. Cox, B.D. and M. Whichelow, Ratio of waist circumference to height is better predictor of death than body mass index. BMJ, 1996. 313(7070): p. 1487.
5. Hsieh, S.D. and H. Yoshinaga, Waist/height ratio as a simple and useful predictor of coronary heart disease risk factors in women. Intern Med, 1995. 34(12): p. 1147-52.
6. Hsieh, S.D. and H. Yoshinaga, Abdominal fat distribution and coronary heart disease risk factors in men-waist/height ratio as a simple and useful predictor. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord, 1995. 19(8): p. 585-9.
7. Hsieh, S.D. and H. Yoshinaga, Do people with similar waist circumference share similar health risks irrespective of height? Tohoku J Exp Med, 1999. 188(1): p. 55-60.
8. Schneider, H.J., et al., Accuracy of anthropometric indicators of obesity to predict cardiovascular risk. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2007. 92(2): p. 589-94.
9. Ashwell, M., P. Gunn, and S. Gibson, Waist-to-height ratio is a better screening tool than waist circumference and BMI for adult cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev, 2012. 13(3): p. 275-86.
10. Ashwell, M., et al., Waist-to-height ratio is more predictive of years of life lost than body mass index. PLoS One, 2014. 9(9): p. e103483.
11. Browning, L.M., S.D. Hsieh, and M. Ashwell, A systematic review of waist-to-height ratio as a screening tool for the prediction of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: 0.5 could be a suitable global boundary value. Nutr Res Rev, 2010. 23(2): p. 247-69.
12. Grundy, S.M., et al., Diagnosis and management of the metabolic syndrome: an American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Scientific Statement. Circulation, 2005. 112(17): p. 2735-52.
13. Allan, C.A., et al., Waist-to-height ratio as a predictor of serum testosterone in ageing men with symptoms of androgen deficiency. Asian J Androl, 2011. 13(3): p. 424-31.
14. Svartberg, J., et al., Waist circumference and testosterone levels in community dwelling men. The Tromso study. Eur J Epidemiol, 2004. 19(7): p. 657-63.
15. Schneider, H.J., et al., Measuring Abdominal Obesity: Effects of Height on Distribution of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Risk Using Waist Circumference and Waist-to-Height Ratio. Diabetes Care, 2011. 34(1): p. e7-e7.
16. Ashwell, M. and S. Gibson, A proposal for a primary screening tool: 'Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height'. BMC Med, 2014. 12: p. 207.
17. Ashwell, M. and S.D. Hsieh, Six reasons why the waist-to-height ratio is a rapid and effective global indicator for health risks of obesity and how its use could simplify the international public health message on obesity. Int J Food Sci Nutr, 2005. 56(5): p. 303-7.
18. Ashwell, M., Plea for simplicity: use of waist-to-height ratio as a primary screening tool to assess cardiometabolic risk. Clin Obes, 2012. 2(1-2): p. 3-5.
19. Smith, S.C., Jr. and D. Haslam, Abdominal obesity, waist circumference and cardio-metabolic risk: awareness among primary care physicians, the general population and patients at risk--the Shape of the Nations survey. Curr Med Res Opin, 2007. 23(1): p. 29-47.
20. Ford, E.S., L.M. Maynard, and C. Li, Trends in mean waist circumference and abdominal obesity among US adults, 1999-2012. JAMA, 2014. 312(11): p. 1151-3.
21. Ashwell, M. and S. Gibson, Waist-to-height ratio as an indicator of 'early health risk': simpler and more predictive than using a 'matrix' based on BMI and waist circumference. BMJ Open, 2016. 6(3): p. e010159.