Calculate your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) to assess health risk distribution.
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Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) compares the circumference of your waist to your hips, and is used by the World Health Organization as an indicator of fat distribution and related health risk. A higher ratio suggests more fat stored around the abdomen, which is associated with greater cardiovascular risk than fat stored around the hips. WHR is often considered a more insightful risk indicator than BMI alone because it accounts for where fat is carried, not just total body weight. This measure formalized a health observation predating modern obesity research by decades: that where the body stores fat matters as much as total fat. "Apple-shaped" fat distribution (concentrated around the waist) is linked to higher cardiometabolic risk than "pear-shaped" distribution (concentrated around hips and thighs), independent of total body weight. The World Health Organization flags increased risk above roughly 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women. Because this measurement compares two body regions rather than relying on weight and height alone, it can reveal meaningful health-risk differences between two people who share the exact same BMI — reinforcing the broader principle that where fat is stored often matters as much as how much fat is present overall.
Waist-to-hip ratio was one of the earliest widely-adopted measures to formalize a health observation that predates modern obesity research by decades: that where the body stores fat matters for health risk, not just how much fat is stored overall. The World Health Organization has published reference thresholds for this ratio — generally citing increased health risk above 0.90 for men and above 0.85 for women — reflecting the well-documented fact that healthy fat distribution patterns differ somewhat by biological sex.
The underlying concept is often summarized informally as "apple" versus "pear" body shapes: an apple shape, with fat concentrated around the abdomen and waist (a higher waist-to-hip ratio), is associated with more visceral fat surrounding internal organs and has been linked in multiple studies to higher cardiovascular and metabolic risk. A pear shape, with fat concentrated around the hips and thighs (a lower ratio), tends to store more subcutaneous fat, which several studies suggest carries comparatively lower metabolic risk, though it isn't risk-free either.
The physiological reasoning behind this difference centers on visceral fat's distinct behavior — it's more metabolically active than subcutaneous fat, releasing free fatty acids and inflammatory compounds directly into the bloodstream that travel straight to the liver, which is thought to contribute to insulin resistance and unfavorable cholesterol changes more directly than fat stored under the skin elsewhere on the body.
Measurement consistency significantly affects reliability here: waist circumference should be measured at the narrowest point (typically just above the belly button) and hip circumference at the widest point around the buttocks, ideally with a relaxed, normal breathing pattern rather than after inhaling or flexing — like most simple body-composition ratios, waist-to-hip is a useful population-level and personal-tracking screening tool, not a substitute for clinical assessment of individual cardiovascular risk factors.
Abdominal (visceral) fat is more strongly linked to heart disease and diabetes risk than fat stored elsewhere.
Fat stored around organs in the abdomen (visceral fat) is metabolically more active and linked to inflammation and insulin resistance more strongly than fat stored under the skin in the hips or thighs.
Measure your waist at the narrowest point and your hips at the widest point, without compressing the skin.