Waist-to-Hip Ratio

📖 Overview

Body weight and BMI alone do not tell you enough, because where fat sits matters more than how much of it there is. Waist-to-hip ratio divides waist circumference by hip circumference and reflects abdominal fat accumulation, which the World Health Organization endorses as a measure of central obesity. At identical body weight, someone carrying fat around the middle faces clearly higher metabolic risk than someone carrying it on the limbs. This tool returns your ratio with the WHO three-level risk grading, which differs by sex, and also lists absolute waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and BMI so the indicators can be read together, alongside a table of WHO thresholds. If your ratio exceeds the cut-off, it back-solves from your hip measurement to tell you how far the waist has to come down to reach the low-risk band, giving you a concrete number to aim at. Two people can share a BMI of 24 and have very different risk profiles. The one with a ratio above the cut-off carries fat viscerally, around the organs, which is the pattern associated with insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. The other carries it subcutaneously on the hips and thighs, which carries far less of that association.

✨ Features

• Returns waist-to-hip ratio with the WHO three-tier risk grading, using different cut-offs for men and women The grading follows the WHO cut-offs of 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women.
• Lists absolute waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and BMI alongside it for a combined reading Waist-to-height is included because it adjusts for body frame, which the ratio alone does not.
• Includes a reference table of WHO and commonly used thresholds so you can locate your band BMI is shown only when you supply height, and is labelled as a secondary indicator.
• When the ratio is above the cut-off, back-solves a waist target from your hip measurement and states the centimetres to lose The target is derived from your own hip measurement, so it stays realistic for your frame.
• Accepts centimetres or inches, so overseas health reports can be entered directly Switching units converts the values you entered rather than asking you to re-measure.
• Results can be copied or exported for your records and for comparison later The exported text includes every indicator so a follow-up measurement can be compared directly.

🚀 How to use

1. Select sex and unit, centimetres or inches
2. Enter waist and hip circumference, measuring where the page indicates
3. Add height and age if available, used for the waist-to-height ratio and BMI
4. Press Calculate to see your ratio and risk level
5. Work against the waist target when planning how to reduce it

⚠️ Notes

• Measure in the right place: waist at navel level or the narrowest point, hips at the widest; measuring elsewhere distorts the result, and measuring over clothing adds several centimetres
• Not a diagnostic: this is a screening indicator and does not replace blood lipids, glucose, blood pressure or clinical judgement, and a raised ratio is a reason to get checked, not a diagnosis in itself
• Not for everyone: standard thresholds do not suit pregnancy, ascites, abdominal tumours or competitive athletes, since their body composition breaks the assumptions behind the thresholds
• Several standards exist: WHO and some national cut-offs differ slightly; the page follows WHO and lists the common comparison as well, and readings near a boundary should not be over-interpreted
• Numbers only: a zero waist or hip, or a hip smaller than the waist, produces a message instead of a result, and a hip smaller than the waist is rejected as a measurement error