Waist-to-Height

Your waist-to-height ratio is a quick, powerful predictor of metabolic risk — often better than BMI. The rule of thumb: keep your waist under half your height.

Height5'9"

Waist33.5 in

Results update as you type

Waist-to-height ratio

0.49

Healthy

0.5

Healthy

Your waist is less than half your height — a low cardiometabolic-risk range.

Keep your waist under 35 in

Formulas use international (WHO) standards — healthy ranges are the same worldwide; only the units differ. The national context below uses U.S. data (CDC / NHANES).

Waist size in the U.S.

Where fat sits matters as much as how much. Abdominal fat carries the most risk, and the waist-to-height ratio captures it better than BMI — important where nearly 3 in 4 adults are overweight.

73.6%

Overweight or obese

Of adults (NHANES)

41.9%

Obesity (BMI ≥ 30)

2 in 5 adults

0.5

Healthy threshold

Waist < half your height

≥ 0.6

High risk

Greater cardiometabolic risk

What the waist-to-height ratio is

It’s your waist measurement divided by your height. The best-known rule is simple and powerful: “keep your waist under half your height” (a ratio below 0.5).

Unlike BMI, it focuses on abdominal fat — the fat around your organs that’s most strongly linked to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Why it can beat weight alone

Two people at the same BMI can have very different risk depending on where they store fat. Waist measurement and this ratio add information that weight or BMI alone can’t.

It’s a screen, not a diagnosis — pair it with BMI, body fat and a professional’s view.