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Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator

Check waist-to-height and waist-to-hip ratios, the central fat measures NICE and WHO use.

Around the widest part of the buttocks, for the waist-to-hip ratio

Sex

Enter your waist and height to see the result.

Bands: NICE NG246 (healthy 0.4 to 0.49, increased 0.5 to 0.59, high 0.6 or more).

Divides your waist by your height and places the ratio in NICE's bands for fat around the middle, which raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease more than weight alone. It also gives the largest waist that keeps the ratio under 0.5, and, with your hip, the waist-to-hip ratio. Every calculation runs in your browser.

Understanding the result

The ratio is shown and banded at two decimals, halves rounding up, so 0.495 shows as 0.50. NICE's bands are the same for men and women, every ethnic group, children from 5 and adults with a lot of muscle:

  • 0.4 to 0.49 — healthy central adiposity, no increased health risk.
  • 0.5 to 0.59 — increased central adiposity, increased health risk.
  • 0.6 or more — high central adiposity, further increased health risk.

NICE gives no band below 0.4. For adults it uses the ratio alongside BMI below a BMI of 35; when a weight from another health tool is saved on this device and puts your BMI at 35 or more, the tool says so.

The waist-to-hip ratio and the waist itself are compared with the cut-offs WHO's 2008 expert consultation lists: a waist over 94 cm for men or 80 cm for women is increased risk, and over 102 or 88 cm substantially increased; a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.90 or more for men, or 0.85 for women, is substantially increased. WHO calls these an example rather than its own recommendation.

How to use it

Measure waist and height in any unit; the tool converts them, so a waist in inches and a height in centimetres work together. To measure your waist, NICE advises finding the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips, wrapping the tape midway between them, just above the belly button, and breathing out naturally before reading it. The hip goes around the widest part of the buttocks.

  • Waist and Height — the ratio and its band.
  • Hip — optional, for the waist-to-hip ratio.
  • Sex — optional, for WHO's waist and waist-to-hip cut-offs, which differ for men and women.
  • Age — optional; NICE's bands are for ages 5 and over.

Examples

Waist 84.2 cm, height 170 cm

84.2 ÷ 170 = 0.4953, which shows as 0.50: increased central adiposity. A waist of 84.1 cm or less would keep the ratio below 0.50.

NICE's own example: 96.5 cm and 170 cm

The ratio is 0.57, increased central adiposity, the same as 38 inches over 67 inches.

Waist 88 cm and hip 100 cm, female

The waist-to-hip ratio is 0.88: substantially increased risk on WHO's cut-off for women.

Rules and sources

The bands are NICE NG246 recommendations 1.9.14 for adults and 1.10.10 for children and young people aged 5 and over, and the way to measure is NICE's Box 1. The waist and waist-to-hip cut-offs are from Annex A of WHO's 2008 report on waist circumference and waist–hip ratio.

Sources

Reviewed

See also