Waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio from tape measurements, with the WHO risk cut-offs, the NICE bands and the WHO waist size category.
Your waist-to-hip ratio is 0.86 (not increased risk by the WHO cut-off of 0.90) and your waist is 49 % of your height (healthy by NICE's bands).
Categories are read from the ratio rounded to 2 decimals, as displayed.
NICE bands: 0.4–0.49 healthy, 0.5–0.59 increased, 0.6 or more high.
86 cm against the WHO cut-offs of 94 cm (increased) and 102 cm (substantially increased) for men.
Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is waist circumference divided by hip circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is waist divided by height in the same unit. Both measure fat carried around the middle, which BMI misses. WHR is compared with the WHO 2008 cut-offs of 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women, and waist size alone with the WHO thresholds of 94 and 102 cm for men and 80 and 88 cm for women.
People use these ratios to screen for central obesity, which is linked to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. With the defaults, a man with an 86 cm waist, 100 cm hips and a height of 175 cm has a WHR of 0.86, below the WHO cut-off, and a WHtR of 0.49, inside NICE's healthy band of 0.4 to 0.49.
The cut-offs are population thresholds, mostly set in Europid adults, not diagnoses. They assume the WHO method: waist midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone after a normal breath out.
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 90/100 = 0.90 meets the WHO ≥ 0.90 cut-off; 90/175 = 0.5143 is in NICE's 0.5–0.59 band; 90 cm ≤ 94 cm
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 70/98 = 0.7143 < 0.85; 70/165 = 0.4242 in NICE 0.4–0.49
Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 40/38 = 1.0526; 40/72 = 0.5556; 101.6 cm is above 94 cm but not above 102 cm (WHO)
Checked against: Hand calculation: 85/170 = 0.5, the start of NICE's 0.5–0.59 increased-risk band
Below 0.90 for men and below 0.85 for women, the cut-offs at which a 2008 WHO expert consultation placed substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. A man with an 86 cm waist and 100 cm hips has 0.86, under the line; the same waist with 94 cm hips gives 0.91, over it. These are population thresholds, so a ratio near the line says little about one person on its own.
WHO links a waist above 94 cm (37 in) in men and 80 cm (31.5 in) in women to increased risk of metabolic complications, and above 102 cm (40 in) and 88 cm (34.6 in) to substantially increased risk. These cut-offs come mainly from Europid populations. The International Diabetes Federation uses lower thresholds for South Asian and Chinese adults: 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women.
Under 0.5, the basis of the public-health message to keep your waist to less than half your height. NICE's bands, added to its obesity guidance in 2022, are 0.4 to 0.49 healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 increased and 0.6 or more high central adiposity. A 2012 meta-analysis by Ashwell and colleagues found WHtR a better screen for cardiometabolic risk than waist circumference or BMI.
WHO measures the waist midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone at the end of a normal breath out, and the hips around the widest part of the buttocks, with the tape level and snug but not compressing the skin. The published cut-offs assume this method. Measuring at the navel gives a different number, and a 2 cm change in waist moves the ratio by 0.02 when hips are 100 cm.
Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 5 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “Boundary: man with WHR exactly 0.90” is checked against Python 3.8 decimal: 90/100 = 0.90 meets the WHO ≥ 0.90 cut-off; 90/175 = 0.5143 is in NICE's 0.5–0.59 band; 90 cm ≤ 94 cm.
WHO. Waist circumference and waist–hip ratio: report of a WHO expert consultation, Geneva, 8–11 December 2008 (published 2011); NICE. Obesity: identification, assessment and management (CG189), 2022 update — waist-to-height ratio; Ashwell M, Gunn P, Gibson S. Waist-to-height ratio is a better screening tool than waist circumference and BMI. Obes Rev 2012;13:275–286.
For information only, not medical advice. These formulas describe populations, not you; talk to a clinician before acting on a result.
5 worked examples with independently sourced answers ship with this calculator. They run in the test suite; you can run them here too.
Body mass index (BMI) from height and weight in metric or imperial units, with the WHO adult category and the healthy weight range for your height.
Body fat percentage by the US Navy tape method, Jackson-Pollock 3- or 7-site skinfolds, or from BMI, with fat and lean mass and the ACE category.
Ideal body weight (IBW) for your height and sex by the Devine, Robinson, Miller and Hamwi formulas, with the healthy BMI weight range.
Blood pressure category (AHA/ACC) for a systolic/diastolic reading, from normal to stage 2 and severe hypertension, with pulse pressure and MAP.
Lean body mass (LBM) from height, weight and sex by the Boer, James and Hume formulas, with the implied body fat percentage.
Body surface area (BSA) in m² from height and weight by the Mosteller, DuBois and Haycock formulas, with the spread between them.
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