How Does Waist-to-Hip Ratio Help Determine Overall Health Risk?
- Numerous scientific studies, including one reported by a doctor at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, prove that the waist-to-hip ratio is a better predictor of health risks than the body mass index (BMI) which has been used in the past. When using the BMI to determine overall health, it does not take into account the distribution of body fat. According to this more recent study, the smaller the ratio between hips and waist, the lower the chance of heart disease and other obesity related health conditions--as well as an early death.
- The study at the Institute of Human Nutrition Posdam-Rehbruecke, by Dr. Tobias Pischon, found when measuring the waist-to-hip ratio of two people who had the same BMI, the health risk increased 13 percent in men and 17 percent in women when the ratio was 2 or more inches higher. It was further found that every time the ratio continued to increase by .01 or more, the risk of death was increased by 24 percent for women and 34 percent for men.
Test results were taken from people measured directly around the navel for the waist measurement and at the largest point around the hips to figure the ratio between the two. Dr. Pischon found that taking the hip measurement alone to determine body weight risk was no more effective than the current BMI measurement. The study utilized 359,387 individuals from differing countries whose measurements had been put into the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition database. - When calculating the waist-to-hip ratio for continued good health, it was determined, women should maintain a ratio of 0.8 or lower and a man's ratio should not exceed 0.95. To calculate your waist-to-hip ratio, get a measuring tape. While standing relaxed, wrap the measuring tape around the navel. The second measurement is around the widest part of your hips. Divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement for your ratio.