 To find out quickly if you are overweight or not there is a reliable way of indicating your health risks.
Waist to hip ratio establishes allocation of body fat. More body fat in the upper body, such as chest and waist, suggests increased health risk for elevated triglycerides, high blood pressure, strokes, longer time to conceive, heart disease or diabetes. Additional fat in the lower body: hips and thighs, suggests fat loss is difficult.
1. By means of a tape measure, measure the hips in inches or centimeters at the top of the hip bone on the right front of the body. This spot will be somewhat lower than your belly button.
2. After that, measure the waist - (2.5 cm) above your belly button in inches or centimeters.
3. Using these two measurement values, divide the waist reading (2) by the hip reading (1). This tells you where most of your body fat is located.
Apple shape (a proportion of .95 or greater) means your body fat is located above your waist which indicates a higher health risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers. Pear shape (a proportion of less than .95) means your body fat is located below your waist which indicates a lower health risk, but fat located in the lower half of the body may be harder to lose during weight loss.
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