Body fat percentage by waist circumference?

yoga105
yoga105 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Because I was told not to trust my scales for my body fat percentage, i was looking up ways to tell. There was a calculator, it asked for my waist circumference & height. My waist is 27.5 inches and my height is 5’6. it said because of those measurements my body fat is 28 percent! is this an accurate way to tell?? should i take this seriously or as a somewhat accurate percent? thank you!

Replies

  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 910 Member
    edited September 2019
    not necessarily - consider it a guideline. some people carry their weight around their waist, but others don't, i have a 5' 6" female friend who weighs over 180 pounds, but her waist is quite small for her height, giving her an hourglass figure. a dexa scan is probably the most accurate, but even then it's not 100%, and i've read that those at home scales that show body fat vary a based on your hydration level.

    perhaps you could learn to use calipers.
  • loveisapineapple
    loveisapineapple Posts: 38 Member
    Studies have been done which show waist to height as being a more accurate indicator of obesity than BMI, so I think it could be considered fairly accurate.

    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177175
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    edited September 2019
    This one uses neck and hips measurements in addition to height, weight and waist measurement. Based on my experience, it’s a decent calculator, better than the body fat percentage reported on scales which can be skewed based on hydration levels.

    Edit: removed link, do a search for Navy body fat calculator if interested.

  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    loveisapineapple wrote: »
    Studies have been done which show waist to height as being a more accurate indicator of obesity than BMI, so I think it could be considered fairly accurate.

    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177175

    Waist to height is NOT the same as waist in isolation.
  • loveisapineapple
    loveisapineapple Posts: 38 Member
    edited September 2019
    collectingblues wrote: »
    Waist to height is NOT the same as waist in isolation.

    No it's not, and the original post was in relation to waist to height, as was mine. There have been plenty of studies on it.

  • yoga105
    yoga105 Posts: 12 Member
    pierinifitness wrote: »
    This one uses neck and hips measurements in addition to height, weight and waist measurement. Based on my experience, it’s a decent calculator, better than the body fat percentage reported on scales which can be skewed based on hydration levels.

    Edit: removed link, do a search for Navy body fat calculator if interested.

    Okay so i just did the Navy one and it says 20% so quite a difference from the other one that says 28%. very confused haha
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    edited September 2019
    loveisapineapple wrote: »
    collectingblues wrote: »
    Waist to height is NOT the same as waist in isolation.

    No it's not, and the original post was in relation to waist to height, as was mine. There have been plenty of studies on it.

    Waist-to-height is a valid tool. We have no idea if that's what the OP actually used. And I stand by that, considering I've *never* seen a waist-to-height figure delivered as a percentage of body fat.

    We *especially* don't know, considering she posted elsewhere that an "online program" told her her goal weight was to be underweight, and refused to answer where she got that link from. Unless she provides valid names of links, I'm not taking anything she says at face value.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    yoga105 wrote: »
    pierinifitness wrote: »
    This one uses neck and hips measurements in addition to height, weight and waist measurement. Based on my experience, it’s a decent calculator, better than the body fat percentage reported on scales which can be skewed based on hydration levels.

    Edit: removed link, do a search for Navy body fat calculator if interested.

    Okay so i just did the Navy one and it says 20% so quite a difference from the other one that says 28%. very confused haha

    Last time I had a DXA-Scan, about 3 months ago, my body fat percentage was very close to the Navy method. I'm having another scan the end of this month and I'll compare again.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    collectingblues wrote: »
    loveisapineapple wrote: »
    collectingblues wrote: »
    Waist to height is NOT the same as waist in isolation.

    No it's not, and the original post was in relation to waist to height, as was mine. There have been plenty of studies on it.

    Waist-to-height is a valid tool. We have no idea if that's what the OP actually used. And I stand by that, considering I've *never* seen a waist-to-height figure delivered as a percentage of body fat.

    We *especially* don't know, considering she posted elsewhere that an "online program" told her her goal weight was to be underweight, and refused to answer where she got that link from. Unless she provides valid names of links, I'm not taking anything she says at face value.

    i remember that and im right there with ya

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