Are you an apple or a pear?

Did you know that your waist-to-hip ratio can predict your susceptibility to diabetes, uterine cancer, atherosclerosis and hypertension? People who store weight around their waist instead of their hips are more prone to all these diseases. Both American and Italian researchers found that the waist-to-hip ratio is a stronger indicator of heart disease in men than Body Mass Index (BMI). That means it's worse to have a big waist than to be fat overall!

For women, a low waist-to-hip ratio is also associated with higher levels of fertility. And guess what else, scientist who study beauty find that men find a low waist-to-hip ratio very attractive -- to the extent of preferring heavy curvy women to slender slim hipped women. (We won't go into the methods the scientist use to study this... ) You can read about it in Survival of the Prettiest. Anyway, it's better to store your weight in your hips!

You can calculate your waist-to-hip ratio and read your level of risk due to where you store your fat here. Bear in mind, you should consider all risk factors to determine your overall risk. If you're BMI is high, but your waist hip ratio is low, this page will say "low risk". What does that mean? You are at low risk compared to other people with your BMI! So, do be aware of all your risk factors!

Note: You may enter data in inches or centimeters, but use the same units for both waist hip measurements! Also, if at all possible, get someone else to measure you. Absolutely, positively don't suck in your waist!

References

"Essentials of Exercise Physiology"

American Journal of Hypertension 2002;15:780-786;

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002;76:743-749.)