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Where exactly is my waist?

dancing_daisy
dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
edited December 2024 in Debate Club
"Regardless of your height or BMI, you should try to lose weight if your waist is: 94cm (37ins) or more (men) 80cm (31.5ins) or more (women)" - NHS UK website

So where is the waist? I am 5"10, female, 31yo, CW 159 lbs. Here are the variations according to different sources:

NHS UK: "So the tip is to measure across the belly button." - 42"
Where my bra band sits - 34"
My 'resting' waist (crease above hips) - 36"

All in all I'm pretty pee'd off that I've lost 34 lbs and 6 inches (48-42") but according to the NHS I'm likely to need to lose another...what....~40 lbs to meet the 31.5" threshold?! I'd be dangerously under weight!

Can anyone see the method in this madness??


Replies

  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,150 Member
    This is what's happened to me so adapt it to yourself or not.

    For my measurements and data collecting, I measure my waist at the "natural waist", the point between the bottom of my rib cage and top of my pelvic bone. If you bend over sideways, it's where the crease is.

    For tailors and medical professionals, they take the waist measurement 2"-4" above the navel. I don't usually have a problem with this, but now my navel hole hangs about 3" below where it connects to my abdominal muscles. It's about 3"-4" larger than a "natural waist" number and it's kinda weird for the person taking it to work around me hoisting my flabby stomach up so my navel is lined up correctly.
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
    I go by (on a woman) the most narrow part of the hourglass part of the abdomen (by looking front at the person) . If you've ever had a baby or been overweight, the belly button probably isn't the best marker!
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    Waist is measured at what's usually the smallest point for women, largest for men or if you have a belly, just above the belly button.

    But also you are tall, waist should be half of height or less, you don't really need to get down to 31.5" to be at a healthy size. They are basing that on a shorter woman.

    Healthy weight range for 5'10" is said to be around 132-173, you aren't really near dangerously underweight yet.
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
    robininfl wrote: »
    Waist is measured at what's usually the smallest point for women, largest for men or if you have a belly, just above the belly button.

    But also you are tall, waist should be half of height or less, you don't really need to get down to 31.5" to be at a healthy size. They are basing that on a shorter woman.

    Healthy weight range for 5'10" is said to be around 132-173, you aren't really near dangerously underweight yet.

    I really don't see what they are basing it on at all, if BMI is based on height, weight and sex but is irrelevant to this then where do they get 31.5" from? Makes no sense does it?

    I'm not even close to underweight yet yes but I meant if I were to lose the 40ish pounds it could possibly take to reach 31.5" (based on lbs and inches lost so far. At 119lbs I'd be hugely underweight!
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
    Good points raised about where the navel is one individuals dependent on what you've been through!
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    dancing_daisy wrote: »
    robininfl wrote: »
    Waist is measured at what's usually the smallest point for women, largest for men or if you have a belly, just above the belly button.

    But also you are tall, waist should be half of height or less, you don't really need to get down to 31.5" to be at a healthy size. They are basing that on a shorter woman.

    Healthy weight range for 5'10" is said to be around 132-173, you aren't really near dangerously underweight yet.

    I really don't see what they are basing it on at all, if BMI is based on height, weight and sex but is irrelevant to this then where do they get 31.5" from? Makes no sense does it?

    I'm not even close to underweight yet yes but I meant if I were to lose the 40ish pounds it could possibly take to reach 31.5" (based on lbs and inches lost so far. At 119lbs I'd be hugely underweight!

    No, it doesn't. The 31.5 is based on what they think the average height of women is, 5'3", which is pretty darn short. In our "biometric assessments" at work they look for waist to be under 35", which assumes a height of 5 foot 10, so short women can slide in with waist that's really too big for health. The one size fits all makes no sense whatsoever.

    Here is a good visual tool for waist to height.

    You may not lose proportionately forever, too - if most of the fat left is around the middle, and the rest of you is already lean, then it will quite likely shrink faster than the rest of you. And if you are left with skin, the measurements may not ever work, it's a screening tool, not a magic key.



  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    This is what's happened to me so adapt it to yourself or not.

    For my measurements and data collecting, I measure my waist at the "natural waist", the point between the bottom of my rib cage and top of my pelvic bone. If you bend over sideways, it's where the crease is.

    This is what I believe is the correct answer/approach. The problem with the belly button measurement is that for many women (including me) that includes the hip bone. Since I'm basically measuring around my hips there, I don't get a real waist measurement. The crease makes sense and most sources I've seen do say halfway inbetween in the rib cage and hip bones (my narrowest is actually a bit higher up, but I don't think that's the waist).

    For many women built with short torsos and longer legs, especially shorter women like me, the distance between hip bone and rib cage won't be that great, and that can mean that your waist is wider than average without it being a health problem (the health problem is related to fat in the middle being a signifier of more visceral fat).

    When I was around BMI 24-25 and had a waist measurement right on the edge of what's recommended you be below (I forget if it was as compared to height or hips -- I tend to have narrow hips, so have issues with the waist/hip ratio recommendation), I had a DEXA. This was mainly to check bone density, but I was curious about BF% and visceral fat given the fact that I tend to gain fat in the middle (ugh). What I learned is that for me it's more build -- I didn't have any visceral fat concerns. So I do take those recommendations with a grain of salt and consider overall BF% and build and so on. They are one of many indicators.
  • auzziecawth
    auzziecawth Posts: 244 Member
    The biggest reason waist size is related to health is because it helps you measure and have an idea of how much visceral fat you have (which is the dangerous kind of fat) so any reduction in this kind of fat is a good thing whether you fall into a certain measurement or not.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
    Since I am in a wheelchair, I was told to use my navel as the center of measure.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    I read recently that you find your waist by facing a mirror shirtless and bend sideways. A crease forms on the side you are bending toward. That crease is your waist.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    I take it at the point between ribs and hips, where it's narrowest. It would never be where your bra is. For me it makes no sense to take it at the navel, since mine is situated low enough to be between my hip bones. At that point, I'm measuring hips. The waist should be where there's no bone to dictate how big it is.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Look in the mirror facing straight on, your waist is the narrowest part and it is usually a few inches above the navel on a woman.
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    I take it at the point between ribs and hips, where it's narrowest. It would never be where your bra is. For me it makes no sense to take it at the navel, since mine is situated low enough to be between my hip bones. At that point, I'm measuring hips. The waist should be where there's no bone to dictate how big it is.

    You say it would never be where your bra is - there is less than 3 inches between 'crease' which forms when bending side ways and where my bra sits. A combination of a very short torso and very big boobs I would imagine!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    The NHS website gives instructions on how to measure:

    Measuring your waist

    To measure your waist:
    •find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips
    •breathe out naturally
    •wrap a tape measure around your waist midway between these points to find your measurement

    http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/849.aspx?CategoryID=51

    This is consistent with advice from the NIH in the US based on current health statistics.
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