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Health & Fitnessbody composition

Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator

Waist to height ratio, with the rule of keeping your waist under half your height. It predicts cardiometabolic outcomes at least as well as BMI, needs no chart, and works across populations where BMI thresholds do not.

Also called: waist to height ratio, whtr calculator.

cm
cm
kg
cm
Waist to height ratio
0.53

0.53, above the threshold. The guidance is to keep your waist under half your height, which for you is 86 cm, so you are 6 cm over it. The raised boundary sits at 103.2 cm. Enter a weight to compare against BMI, which disagrees with this measure often enough to be worth checking. Keep your waist under half your height. The threshold needs no chart and holds across populations where BMI cutoffs do not.

Half your height
86
Difference from half your height
6
Waist at the 0.5 boundary
86
Waist at the 0.6 boundary
103.2
Ratio after the change you modelled
0.53
BMI, if a weight was given
0
Category
above the threshold
Where you sit
6 cm over it
Against BMI
Enter a weight to compare against BMI, which disagrees with this measure often enough to be worth checking.
On the measure
Keep your waist under half your height. The threshold needs no chart and holds across populations where BMI cutoffs do not.
How this is calculated

For reference only. Verify against your clinical protocol before acting on this number.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

Divide waist by height. The threshold is 0.5, which makes the guidance memorable: keep your waist under half your height. The measure has three advantages over BMI. It captures abdominal fat directly rather than total mass, so it does not misclassify muscular people. The threshold holds across populations where BMI cutoffs need adjusting. And it needs no reference chart, which matters more than it sounds for something people should be able to check themselves.

one measurement against another, with a threshold simple enough to remember
WHtR
Waist to height ratio

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

a 92 cm waist at 172 cm

Waist
92 cm
Height
172 cm
Weight, to compare against BMI
78 kg
Waist change to model
0 cm

Waist to height ratio0.53

The ratio is waist over height, 92/172; the boundaries are 0.5 and 0.6 of height

Open this example

exactly half the height

Waist
86 cm
Height
172 cm

Waist to height ratio0.5

boundary: the threshold

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • Waist measured at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the iliac crest.

What it deliberately does not model

  • It says nothing about total body composition or fitness.
  • Measurement site and breathing state both affect the waist reading.
  • A single threshold is a simplification; risk is continuous.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Is this better than BMI?
For predicting cardiometabolic risk, at least as good and often better, because it measures abdominal fat directly. It also works across populations where BMI thresholds need adjusting.