Waist-to-Hip Ratio Calculator
Check your waist-to-hip ratio against WHO risk bands, with an optional waist-to-height ratio
Waist-to-Hip Ratio Calculator
Check your waist-to-hip ratio against WHO risk bands, with an optional waist-to-height ratio
What Is the Waist-to-Hip Ratio?
The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is your waist circumference divided by your hip circumference. It shows how body fat is distributed: fat carried around the waist is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes than fat carried on the hips and thighs.
The World Health Organization treats a ratio of 0.90 or more for men, and 0.85 or more for women, as indicating substantially increased risk. This calculator also gives the waist-to-height ratio if you add your height, a simple screening measure where staying below 0.5 is a common target.
How to Use This Calculator
Why Fat Distribution Matters
Two people with the same BMI can have very different health risks depending on where the fat sits. A larger waist relative to hips points to more visceral fat around the organs, which is metabolically active and linked to higher disease risk.
Waist-based measures are also easy to track over time with a tape measure, which makes them a useful complement to weight and BMI, particularly when you are training and changing body composition.
?Frequently Asked Questions
Stand upright, relaxed, and use a flexible tape measure over bare skin or thin clothing. Measure the waist at the narrowest point, or midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, after a normal breath out. Measure hips at the widest part around the buttocks. Keep the tape level and snug but not tight.
The WHO bands consider below 0.90 low risk for men and below 0.80 low risk for women. Ratios in the 0.90–0.99 range for men and 0.80–0.84 for women are moderate, and ratios at or above 1.00 for men and 0.85 for women are high.
They measure different things. BMI relates weight to height and ignores fat distribution, while waist-to-hip ratio reflects it. Many researchers see waist-based measures as better predictors of cardiovascular risk, and they are most useful alongside BMI rather than instead of it.
It is waist divided by height. A value below 0.5 is a common target, 0.5 to 0.6 suggests increased risk and 0.6 or more suggests high risk. It does not need separate male and female bands.
Yes. Very muscular hips, or a large core from heavy lifting, can distort the ratio. For athletes it is best read together with body fat percentage, performance and a clinician's assessment.
No. It is a ratio, so any unit works as long as the waist, hip and height are all in the same one.