Waist-to-height ratio: the simplest health check

If you only had time for one body measurement, waist-to-height ratio would be a strong choice. It takes seconds, needs only a tape measure, and targets the fat that matters most.

The simple rule

Divide your waist by your height, in the same units. The widely used guideline is:

Keep your waist to less than half your height.

So a waist-to-height ratio under 0.5 is the target for most adults. Above it, health risk starts to rise.

Why it beats BMI for this

BMI cannot see where you carry fat. Waist-to-height ratio focuses on fat around the middle, which sits near your organs and is the most linked to health risk. Two people with the same BMI can have very different waist-to-height ratios, and very different risk.

It also needs no adjustment for being tall or short, because it is already scaled to your height.

Check yours

Your BMI result includes waist-to-height when you add your waist, so you see both the screen and the better signal side by side.