Waist Hip Ratio

One of the problems with the BMI is that it makes no distinction between fat and lean muscle. Although it is a better indicator of health and fitness than body weight alone, it doesn’t correlate well with body composition.

You can determine your waist hip ratio with these easy steps:

• Measure your waist circumference. Use a tape measure and measure around the smallest area of your waist. This is usually just above the belly button.

• Measure your hip circumference. Use a tape measure and measure the distance around the largest area of your hips. This is usually the widest part of your buttocks.

• Divide the waist measurement by the hips measurement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have set the following numbers as safe:

• Men: a ratio of 0.9 or less is considered safe.
• Women: a ratio of 0.8 or less is considered safe.

The growing obesity epidemic is resulting in more than problems finding clothes to fit or problems with self-esteem. There are some serious medical conditions that are caused by carrying too much belly fat.

These include conditions are as serious as heart disease and diabetes. These are more common in people with an “apple” shape than a “pear” shape. The apple shape is a way of describing those who carry extra belly fat around the waist than the hips.

So, if you want to become healthier you may need to remove belly fat and get closer to your ideal waist size. This will result in a decrease of your waist hip ratio.

There are many ways to determine health and fitness other than the BMI and the waist to hip ratio. Basically, what is being measured is your body fat and there are some very sophisticated means of making this measurement.

But you may not need to get one of these more extensive measurements taken. You may already know that what you really need to do is remove belly fat. You may never have the perfect waist but you should get as close as possible to your ideal waist size.

Improving your waist hip ratio is a challenge. Especially when there is so much misleading information out there. Tom Venuto has written an excellent book that will help you remove belly fat. He guarantees you that you will see results. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle has over 300 pages of information that will help you lose excess belly fat and get flat abs.

Read more about losing belly fat by clicking here.