waist circumference to height ratio (waist-to-height) ratio
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Clinical significance
- a waist circumference to height ratio >= 0.5 is indicates increased cardiometabolic risk
- it is used as a threshold for identifying abdominal obesity across both sexes & ethnic populations[3][4]
- BMI cannot distinguish between muscle & fat, and varies across age, sex & ethnicity; hence, a poor tool in diagnosing excess adiposity in children[1]
- waist circumference-to-height ratio is a better measure of obesity[1][2]
Additional terms
- body mass index (BMI)
- cardiovascular risk factor
- central obesity; abdominal obesity
- waist circumference
- waist-to-hip ratio (waist/hip)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Agbaje AO Body mass index triples overweight prevalence in 7600 children compared with waist-to-height ratio: the ALSPAC study. Obesity and Endocrinology. 2025. Feb 14 Not yet indexed in PubMed https://academic.oup.com/obendo/article/1/1/wjaf002/8011348
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rubino F, Cummings DE, Eckel RH et al Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2025 Mar;13(3):221-262. PMID: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39824205 Review. PMCID: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11870235 (available on 2026-03-01)/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nadolsky K, Garvey WT, Agarwal M et l American Association of Clinical Endocrinology Consensus Statement: Algorithm for the Evaluation and Treatment of Adults with Obesity/Adiposity-Based Chronic Disease
2025 Update. Endocr Pract. 2025 Nov;31(11):1351-1394. PMID: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40956256 https://www.endocrinepractice.org/article/S1530-891X(25)00977-2/fulltext - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Al-Roub NM, Malik D, Essa M et al Body Mass Index and Anthropometric Criteria to Assess Obesity JAMA Netw Open. December 29, 2025 Not yet indexed in PubMed https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2843225