Waist circumference

Why is the waist circumference important?
Waist circumference is an indicator of a person's health risk because it predicts the distribution of the body weight although a more accurate measure will be a person's waist to hip ratio. The waist circumference may be a better predictor of health risk than BMI.

Why s the Having fat around the abdominal organs and enlarged waist circumference, despite of your BMI, means you are more expected to have certain obesity-related risks.

Fat predominantly deposited round the hips and buttocks does not appear to have the same risk as the fat distributed predominantly in the intra-abdominal areas.

Who is at risk for having a large waist?
Anybody who is insulin resistant is at risk of having excess belly fat and therefore a large waist.

Men and post menopausal women are at larger risk of surplus fat in the waist district.

Ideal waist circumference for women
The ideal waist circumference for women: a waist circumference of 35 inches (88cm or over) shows a high risk of obesity associated health conditions.

A waist circumference of 31 inches or lower for women (80cm or lower) is considered ideal waist circumference for women.

Ideal waist circumference for men
The ideal waist circumference for men is below 37 inches.

A waist circumference of 40 inches or more (102cm or more) shows a substantially increased risk.

In fact, the waist circumference is such an important indicator of cardiovascular disease risk that it is one of the 5 criteria for metabolic syndrome.

What causes a large waist and upper body distribution of the body weight?
The reason people get a big waist and upper body adiposity is the underlying insulin resistance that redistributes the weight to the upper part and the unhealthy visceral areas leading increased inflammation. In this context, it is important to note that most human diseases start with inflammation.

Waist to hip ratio
Waist–hip ratio or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a ratio of the two important measures for body fat distribution: waist and hip. A person with a bigger waist compared to hips is considered to be at higher metabolic risk compared to otherwise.

Measuring waist to hip ratio

 * The recommended method is to measure waist at the smallest point,usually about halfway between the bottomo f your rib cage and the top of your hip bone.


 * For the hips, take your hip measurement at its widest point, usually at about the bend in yourt high and fullest swell of your buttocks.

In order to get the waist to hip ratio, you simply divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.

Ideal waist to hip ratio
What is the ideal waist to hip ratio?

It actually depends on your gender.


 * For men, the ideal waist to hip ratio is 1.0 or lower.
 * For women, the ideal waist to hip ratio is 0.8 or lower.

Apple shaped body versus pear shaped body
A Waist-to-Hip Ratio of 0.8 in women and 1.0 in men is considered an “apple-shaped” body type which indicates risk for metabolic syndrome

A waist to hip ratio less than or equal to 0.8 in women and 1.0 or lower is considered a “pear-shaped” body type which indicates a lower metabolic risk for chronic disease.