Waist To Height Ratio (WHtR) More Accurate Than BMI

Move Over BMI And Make Way For Waist To Height Ratio (WHtR)

Doctors often use body mass index (BMI) calculation to determine overall health and risk of disease, but waist to height ratio (WHtR) appears to be a more accurate and simpler way of determining overall health and risk of heart disease. BMI is a calculation of a person’s height to weight, and the new calculation of waist to height ratio appears to be a more accurate predictor health and risk of heart disease. Move over BMI and make way for the waist to height ratio (WHtR).

Waist To Height Ratio (WHtR), Heart Disease, Life Expectancy

In an earlier study Margaret Ashwell, PhD, of Oxford Brookes University, and her colleagues had already determined that waist to height ratio (WHtR) was a better predictor of heart disease than BMI.

Now in a more recent study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, Ashwell and her colleagues examined data of patients whose BMI and waist to height ratio were measured in the 1980s. The data showed that measuring the ratio of someone’s waist to height ratio is a better way of predicting their life expectancy than BMI.

The study indicated that your waist circumference should be less than half of your height to help prevent heart disease and diabetes, and to add years to your life. Measuring a person’s waist to height ratio measures the levels of central fat that builds around the organs, which points a finger at the stress being put on the organs. This is a better indicator of health than measuring the weight fat on the legs and arms, which is part of the calculation used in measuring BMI.

What Waist to Height Ratio Means For Us

Simply, the calculation is easy. An man who is 5’9″ (69″ total), which an ideal waist to height ratio, should have a waist size smaller the 34.5″. My alkaline diet is doing its job since I am 5’9″ and I have a 32″ waist.

A woman who is 5’6″ (66″ total), with a normal waist to height ratio, would have a waist size smaller than 33″.

If you are using the metric system, your waist should be half your height in centimeters.

The study also indicated that children could be screened as early as five using the waist to height ratio to identify children at greatest risk for serious health conditions in their later stages of life.

References:
European Congress on Obesity, Ashwell M, et al “Waist-to-height ratio is more accurate than body mass index to quantify reduced life expectancy” Euro Congress Obesity 2013; Abstract T3T4:P.013.

Tags: bmi, waist, waist to height, weight to height ratio, WHtr