The Standard Waist & Hip Measurements Based On Height & Weight

Doctors used to look at height and weight charts to determine whether someone was within a normal weight range, but this is no longer enough to determine whether someone is healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are heavier today than they were in the 1960s, and there is reason to be concerned because obesity puts people at risk for a variety of problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. Researchers have devised different metrics that could easily identify those at risk for such problems, including the body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio. The standards for what is normal change as new research identifies those at risk with more precision. Although there is no one chart that indicates what standard waist and hip measurements ought to be relative to height and weight, these measurements can be calculated from other, available metrics.

Body Mass Index

The Body Mass Index is a measure of whether someone is overweight or obese. The formula to calculate BMI uses height, weight and a constant to yield a body fat percentage. A person's BMI falls in certain ranges, indicating whether she is of normal weight, underweight, overweight or obese. According to a 2003 study in the "International Journal of Obesity," these BMI ranges are too wide and miss identifying people that have normal BMIs but excessive abdominal fat, putting them at risk for metabolic problems. According to the National Heart Lung and BIood Institute, the BMI measure also suffers from some limitations, including that it may overestimate body fatness in athletes or those with muscular builds. It may also underestimate fatness in older people who may have lost muscle.

BMI and Waist Circumference

While excessive weight may elevate your risk of cardiovascular problems, where the fat is located is another risk factor. Fat that is accumulated around the waist is more dangerous than fat accumulated elsewhere, such as thighs or hips. Doctors are increasingly using BMI in combination with waist circumference to assess a person's risk. Men with a waist size of more than 40 inches and women with a waist size of more than 35 inches are at increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Waist to Hip Ratio

Some question whether BMI is a good measure of increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. A different way to calculate someone's risk is to divide the waist circumference number by the hip circumference number. A 2006 study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" sought to understand the association of BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio with mortality in older people. The researchers found that high BMIs did not put someone at risk as much as a high waist-to-hip ratio. Another 2008 study reported in the journal "Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association" concluded that men with waist-to-hip ratios of greater than .97 and women with waist-to-hip ratios of greater than .84 faced the greatest risk of stroke.

Waist to Height Ratio

The waist-to-height ratio is calculated by measuring waist size and dividing it by height, in inches. For example, a man with a 36-inch waist who is 6 feet 3 inches, or 75 inches total, would have a ratio of .48. Reporting in a 2003 study in the "Annals of Epidemiology," researchers sought to determine the best measure of cardiovascular risk in a large sample of adults receiving medical examinations. After correlating risk factors with a variety of health conditions, they concluded that the waist-to-stature ratio -- or, waist-to-height -- is a good, simple predictor of a range of cardiovascular risk factors. They recommend that your waist circumference should not exceed half your height.