Waist-to-Height Ratio

The waist-to-height ratio compares how large your waist is relative to your height, giving a quick check on how much fat may be carried around the abdomen. It works because waist size reflects central body fat more closely than weight alone, and scaling it by height helps make the value more comparable between people of different statures. In general, a higher ratio suggests more abdominal fat and a greater health risk, while a lower ratio suggests less.

Use this when you want a simple screening measure for central obesity or general cardiometabolic risk. It is helpful in fitness tracking, health checkups, and comparing body shape changes over time.

• Using waist and height in different units
• Dividing height by waist instead of waist by height
• Treating WHtR as a diagnosis rather than a screening measure