Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator

Waist to hip ratio is one of the quickest and most useful measures of body shape, and unlike body weight or BMI it focuses on where you carry fat rather than how much you weigh in total. That matters, because research consistently links fat stored around the abdomen, an apple shape, with greater health risk than fat carried on the hips and thighs, a pear shape, even at the same overall weight. This calculator works it out in a second. Enter your waist and hip measurements in the same unit, choose your sex, and it returns your ratio along with the health risk category based on the thresholds published by the World Health Organization, which differ for men and women. All you need is a tape measure: take your waist at its narrowest point, usually just above the belly button, and your hips at the widest point around the buttocks, keeping the tape level and snug. The ratio itself is simply your waist divided by your hips, so a smaller number means a more even fat distribution and a larger number means more weight around the middle. It is a handy figure to track over time alongside other measures, because changes in the ratio can reflect shifts in body composition that the scales alone miss. Remember that this is a general screening guide, not a diagnosis: many things affect health, and your ratio is only one signal among many. If you are concerned about your result or your health, talk to your doctor or a health professional, who can interpret it in the context of your full picture. The method and risk thresholds are explained below.

Risk categories use World Health Organization thresholds. A general screening guide for fat distribution, not a diagnosis or medical advice. Talk to a health professional about your individual health.