Waist/hip ratio

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InsolentMint
InsolentMint Posts: 48
in Health and Weight Loss
This might be a really stupid question, but if your waist/hip ratio is 0.7 or below, are you per definition "hourglass-shaped"? I keep seeing the two synonymous.

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  • kindredspirit96
    kindredspirit96 Posts: 62 Member
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    How do you figure out your waist/hip ratio?
  • joleenl
    joleenl Posts: 739 Member
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    No waist/hip ratio is a health measurement. It's used to get an idea of how much belly fat you have. High belly fat can be a warning indicator for insulin resistance and diabetes amongst other diseases.

    Hour glass figure is a body shape type where your chest and hip measurements are the same (or very close to it) and your waist is significantly smaller. I am not sure what the critria is for difference.

    To get your waist/hip ratio. Measure your waist at the part where your body naturally tapers (usually around the belly button area) and then measure your hips at your hip bones (usaully 2-3 inches below your waist or the biggest part just above your bum).
  • kindredspirit96
    kindredspirit96 Posts: 62 Member
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    Hmmmm...........I'm thinking that there is probably a "good" waist/hip ratio?....

    I'm also thinking that there is probably some correlation to health with a good waist/hip ratio....?

    I remember in evolutionary bio class that there is a waist/hip ratio that is rated highest for human attractiveness in blind studies where the subject doesn't know the actual numbers, just sees the outline, etc.... Because it's consistently rated high, it's related to evolutionary fitness, or reproductive attractiveness from an evolutionary bio standpoint. This usually means there is some sort of "reason" that we would've evolved to find this ratio attractive --- some health reason.

    So, I'm thinking there's probably a "good" ratio that correlates with health somehow....
  • joleenl
    joleenl Posts: 739 Member
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    Oops a punctuation error. No was the answer to her question of waist/hip ratio being the same as hour glass figure. The rest was a statement. Absolutely waist/hip ratio IS a health indicator.
  • ebscrebs
    ebscrebs Posts: 17
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    .7 is supposedly the ideal for a woman. Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement and you'll see how close you are to perfection!
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    An hourglass figure is usually bigger in both the bust and hips. You could have an excellent waist to hip ratio and not be an hourglass because you had a more petite bust. I don't believe the bust is a factor in health - it's purely the relationship between waist and hips that's considered important, and ideally the waist measurement is meant be under 32" in women. I'm not sure how that works out, as 32" might be quite big for a very short woman, or small for a very tall woman, so sometimes you see waist to height calculators instead.

    It's not clear from the above exactly what the risk is. I've read that cortisol can make you grow mid-body fat as well as causing disease, so maybe that has something to do with it? There are always exceptions. I'm an hourglass with heart disease - as was my mother :smile: I THINK it's thought that fat round your middle is more likely to mean extra fat round your organs, whereas fat round your hips with a small waist isn't.
  • jakkisr
    jakkisr Posts: 175 Member
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    This is really interesting ! I think my waist is my worst area, always a bit tree trunk like (I'm an apple shape) so I just did the calculation and it came out as 0.783 so I guess that means I've got a healthy ratio, I'm quite surprised!
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,632 Member
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    No waist/hip ratio is a health measurement. It's used to get an idea of how much belly fat you have. High belly fat can be a warning indicator for insulin resistance and diabetes amongst other diseases.

    Hour glass figure is a body shape type where your chest and hip measurements are the same (or very close to it) and your waist is significantly smaller. I am not sure what the critria is for difference.

    To get your waist/hip ratio. Measure your waist at the part where your body naturally tapers (usually around the belly button area) and then measure your hips at your hip bones (usaully 2-3 inches below your waist or the biggest part just above your bum).

    Hour glass figures are the fullest part of the bust and the fullest part of the hips being the same size and the waist being 9" or more difference.

    ie 38-28-28
  • Rossa59
    Rossa59 Posts: 20 Member
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    An hourglass figure is usually bigger in both the bust and hips. You could have an excellent waist to hip ratio and not be an hourglass because you had a more petite bust. I don't believe the bust is a factor in health - it's purely the relationship between waist and hips that's considered important, and ideally the waist measurement is meant be under 32" in women. I'm not sure how that works out, as 32" might be quite big for a very short woman, or small for a very tall woman, so sometimes you see waist to height calculators instead.

    It's not clear from the above exactly what the risk is. I've read that cortisol can make you grow mid-body fat as well as causing disease, so maybe that has something to do with it? There are always exceptions. I'm an hourglass with heart disease - as was my mother :smile: I THINK it's thought that fat round your middle is more likely to mean extra fat round your organs, whereas fat round your hips with a small waist isn't.


    I was an hourglass (36:26:36), in my 20s and 30s. In middle age (54), waist is 35! Bust is now 44" and hips 42". I don't expect to have the figure I had before but a 32" waist would be nice. In UK recently there has been a change to waist to height ratio with your waist half your height or less. I'm 70:35 so that works for me.
  • doriharvey
    doriharvey Posts: 89 Member
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    In in the US and haven't been evaluated by a doctor for more than BMI. I am not at goal weight, am at the high end of my BMI and just did the hip/waist ratio. I am pear shaped and measure in at .77777. However when I calculate the height and consider waist is to be 1/2 of that I am two inches over. I'm curious to know the health risks associated with the height waist measurement.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I'm curious to know the health risks associated with the height waist measurement.
    Epidemiology (spit). Look at a large statistical database of illnesses and deaths, divide up the population based on waist to height ratio and you'll see more illnesses and deaths in the groups with higher waist to height ratio (and possibly waist to hip too).

    It's a more subtle approach than just saying your waist should be less than 32" as it adjusts for taller people assumed to have larger bone structure.
  • sozisraw
    sozisraw Posts: 418 Member
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    I'm hour glass 36 , 26, 35 1/5 if I slim further my hips get smaller in comparison , topple over shape lol!

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