Waist-to-hip ratio calculator
Enter your waist and hip measurements to see your waist-to-hip ratio and where it sits against the World Health Organization cut-offs.
Your waist-to-hip ratio
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World Health Organization cut-off
World Health Organization cut-offs (women / men)
- ≥ 0.85 / 0.90Waist-to-hip ratio: substantially increased risk
- > 80 / 94 cmWaist: increased risk
- > 88 / 102 cmWaist: substantially increased risk
This is a screening figure for healthy adults, not a medical assessment. If your result is above the cut-off, you are pregnant or you have a chronic condition, talk to your physician.
Let us measure waists across your organisation
Our baseline measurement takes waist circumference, body mass index and functional tests together. Individual results are never shared with the employer; your organisation sees an anonymous group report only.
Common questions
How do I measure my waist and hips?
Under the World Health Organization protocol, the waist is measured midway between the lower edge of the last rib and the top of the hip bone, and the hips at their widest point. Keep the tape parallel to the floor and read it after a normal breath out. The ratio is waist divided by hips: 85 / 100 = 0.85.
What do the 0.90 and 0.85 cut-offs mean?
The World Health Organization treats a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.90 or more in men and 0.85 or more in women as the point where the risk of metabolic complications, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is substantially increased. For waist size, the same report puts increased risk above 94 cm in men and 80 cm in women, and substantially increased risk above 102 and 88 cm.
How is it different from body mass index?
Body mass index uses only height and weight, so it cannot show where fat sits. Waist-to-hip ratio and waist size show fat around the abdomen, which is more closely tied to metabolic risk. The cut-offs were set mostly in populations of European descent and may differ in others.