BMI (Body Mass Index) has been the gold standard for determining whether someone is a healthy weight. It measures body fat based on height and weight and applies to most adults over 20. However, it isn’t perfect. A better way to measure your risk of cardiovascular disease due to an unhealthy weight is to use your waist-to-height ratio.
Key Takeaways
- BMI isn’t perfect. Your weight alone doesn’t tell the whole story about your health. Where fat is stored matters more than how much you weigh.
- Measure your waist. Divide your waist circumference by your height to get a quick health risk assessment that works better than traditional BMI.
- If your waist-to-height ratio is less than 0.5, you’re in the healthy range with lower risks of serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes.
What’s Wrong With BMI?
BMI is often criticized for oversimplifying if a person is of a healthy weight. It doesn’t consider a person’s frame, muscle mass, and other organic material such as fat, bone, cartilage, and water weight.
Another problem is that athletes, children, and older people can contribute to an inaccurate calculation, indicating that they aren’t a healthy weight when they are. Despite these variations, BMI is widely considered an adequate measurement by health professionals for many people.
What Is Waist-To-Height Ratio?
Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) assesses health risks related to body fat distribution. Excess fat around the abdomen increases your risk for many health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. According to research from 2015, a higher WHtR is associated with abnormal cholesterol and blood pressure readings, even when BMI was in a healthy range.
Unlike BMI, WHtR works for different age groups, genders, and ethnicities. However, there are limitations for certain groups of people, such as pregnant women, children under 5, and those with medical conditions that distort the shape of the abdomen. Athletes and bodybuilders may have a higher WHtR due to muscle mass around their waist. Your results may also be over- or underestimated if you’re very tall or very short. Regardless, it is a better indicator of your cardiovascular risks than BMI.
Calculating Your Waist-To-Height Ratio
As with any measurement, getting a result and quickly determining its meaning must be easy. For WHtR, you’ll need to know your height and waist circumference. You can use a tailor’s measuring tape to measure your waist. WHtR works with both inches and centimeters, so you can use your preferred measurement method.
WHtR is calculated by dividing the circumference of your waist by your height. Your results will fit into one of three categories:
| < 0.5 | Healthy range, no increased risks of obesity-related health issues. |
| 0.5 – 0.6 | Increased risk of obesity-related health issues. |
| > 0.6 | High risk of obesity-related health issues. |
Is BMI or Height-To-Waist Ratio Better?
If you are 5′ 9″ (69″ or 175 cm) and your waist is 32″ (81 cm), your WHtR is 0.46, which puts you in the healthy range. Yet, if you weigh 175 lbs (34 Kg), your BMI would indicate you’re in an unhealthy weight category, which may not be the case if you have more lean muscle mass than your sedentary counterpart.
WHtR is a better indicator of health risks because it focuses on fat around the abdomen. Excessive abdominal fat correlates with a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. Additionally, WHtR works better for people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, and fitness levels. It’s easier to interpret with one set of results, unlike BMI, where the results vary depending on the formula used.
That doesn’t mean BMI isn’t helpful. It can be a simple way to assess your overall weight relative to your height. BMI provides a general weight classification, but it should be used with other measurements and data points like WHtR to give a better overall picture of your health.
Conclusion
BMI is the most common method for determining a healthy weight. Yet, it has limitations, as it doesn’t consider several factors, such as body frame, fitness level, gender, and muscle mass. Your waist-to-height ratio is an easy way to assess your health risks related to fat around your waist, excluding your weight as a factor. However, you should never focus on just one number. WHtR is yet another tool to help assess your overall health. If you have any questions regarding the results of any tests, consult your doctor or a health professional.
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Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
