Waist-to-Hip Ratio

• It measures abdominal obesity - the widest diameter of the buttocks and then dividing the waist measurement by the hip measurement



Strengths

• Good correlation with body fat



Limitations

• More prone to measurement error because it requires two measurements

• More difficult to measure hip than it is to measure waist

• More complex to interpret than waist circumference, since increased waist-to-hip ratio can be caused by increased abdominal fat or decrease in lean muscle mass around the hips

• Turning the measurements into a ratio leads to a loss of information: Two people with very different BMIs could have the same WHR

• May be difficult to measure and less accurate in individuals with a BMI of 35 or higher