# Waist-to-Hip Ratio May Offer Better Indicator of Obesity, Health Over BMI
Body Mass Index has dominated health assessments for decades, but researchers now suggest waist-to-hip ratio offers a more accurate picture of health risk.
Healthline reports that waist-to-hip ratio measures where your body stores fat. This matters because fat distribution directly affects disease risk. Fat carried around the midsection, called visceral fat, links to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Fat stored in hips and thighs poses less health concern.
BMI simply divides weight by height. It ignores where fat sits on your body and cannot distinguish between muscle and fat. An athlete with significant muscle mass might register as overweight or obese on BMI charts, despite being perfectly healthy. BMI also fails to account for age, bone density, or ethnicity.
Calculating waist-to-hip ratio takes minutes. Measure your waist at its narrowest point, usually above your belly button. Measure your hips at their widest part. Divide waist measurement by hip measurement. For example, a 30-inch waist divided by 36-inch hips equals 0.83.
A ratio below 0.85 for women and below 0.90 for men generally signals lower health risk. Higher ratios suggest greater risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, independent of overall weight.
Research published in health journals increasingly supports waist-to-hip ratio as a stronger predictor of mortality and disease than BMI alone. Some healthcare providers now use both measurements together, giving a fuller health picture.
Parents can use this information when assessing their own health or discussing health markers with doctors. Knowing that body composition and fat distribution matter more than the number on the scale helps shift focus from