Longer LifespanĪnother of the focuses of the study was on the accurate prediction of lifespan. Red also indicates a need for immediate action. Yellow means the patient should consider taking action in the case of adults and children. The brown section indicates no need for weight loss or decreasing in waist circumference measurements, patient may be underweight. 0.6 (yellow to red) was chosen to show the waist measurements are above your height.0.5 (green to yellow) meaning the waist circumference should be less than or equal to your height.0.4 (brown to green) meaning the waist circumference measures less than half your height.The boundary description values for this chart are set in relation to WHtR
The opposite side focuses on height measurements also measured in centimeters (y axis). The base contains waist circumference measurements in the form of centimeters (x axis). This Ashwell made and copyrighted chart is designed for male and female adults and children over five years ( 1). For the over fifties the critical values start at 0.60. For people under the age of 40, a WHtR of over 0.50 is considered to put them at critical risk. Visceral fat is directly linked to strokes and heart disease.Įssentially: your waist should measure no more than half the length of your heightįor a 6ft man (72 inches), this means having a waistline no larger than 36 inches, while a 5ft 4in (64 inch) woman’s waist should measure 32in or less. Measuring someone’s waist is fundamental because it accounts for critical levels of fat that accumulate in between internal organs and the torso, aka visceral fat or ‘central obesity’. Recently British scientists have revealed that a typical ‘apple’ shaped person, who carries excess abdominal fat (which sits close to the heart, liver and kidneys) is at far greater risk of health issues than a pear-shaped person, who typically carries weight on the hips, thighs and bottom. More importantly, the BMI doesn’t make allowances for the distribution of fat around the body. BMI is measured by a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters – it is a complicated calculation and the formula is unfamiliar to most people.