3.2.3: Part B3- Waist to Hip Ratios (WHR)

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Page ID: 100865

Mark Kelly
Irvine Valley College

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Part B3: Waist to Hip Ratios (WHR)- Like the Waist to Height ratio, the waist to hip ratio is used to estimate body composition and obesity. Unfortunately, individual variability in fat distribution can throw this measure off. If someone has a large waist and a very large hip measurement (large gluteals) then the ratio will be low and indicate low body fat or CVD risk. Likewise, if someone is thin, but has a small hip measurement they will be overestimated in risk factor. In general, the ratings below are applied to the WHR (Bray & Gray, 1988):

Gender	Excellent	Good	Average	At Risk
Male	<0.85	.85-.89	.90-.95	≥ 0.95
Female	>0.75	.75-.79	.80-.85	≥ 0.86

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