Is your waist size a better warning sign than your weight?
Is Waist to Height Ratio Better than Other Indices of Obesity in Determining Cardiovascular Risk?
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) didn’t outperform BMI or waist circumference—even though it’s often marketed as superior.
Many public health guidelines and apps promote WHtR as the most accurate predictor of central obesity and heart risk; this study found no statistical edge.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re healthy and want to monitor heart risk, measuring your waist circumference or calculating your BMI is just as useful as using waist-to-height ratio.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) didn’t outperform BMI or waist circumference—even though it’s often marketed as superior.
Many public health guidelines and apps promote WHtR as the most accurate predictor of central obesity and heart risk; this study found no statistical edge.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re healthy and want to monitor heart risk, measuring your waist circumference or calculating your BMI is just as useful as using waist-to-height ratio.
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Biochemistry Research & Review
Year
2024
Authors
Abdulkareem Salawu, Samson Ojedokun, Joel Akande, Taiwo Oloyede
Related Content
Claims (4)
Waist circumference demonstrates superior predictive validity for metabolic disease and all-cause mortality compared to body mass index in adult human populations.
Measuring your waist compared to your height isn’t any better than just using your BMI or waist size to guess your heart risk—all three are about equally useful in this group.
Measuring your waist compared to your height, your weight relative to your height, or just your waist size can all tell you something about your risk for heart problems—even if you don’t have diabetes or high blood pressure.
Women in this study were more likely than men to have high BMI and large waist size, and both of these were linked to higher heart risk markers—even if they didn’t have diabetes or high blood pressure.