Which is Best, BMI or Waist-Hip Ratio? Or Body Fat %age?

Medical News Today has done us a favor by explaining the best way for individuals to work out if they’re overweight or not. They describe and compare the body mass index (BMI), the waist-hip ratio (WHR), and body fat percentage.

BMI is your weight in relation to your height. Your weight in pounds times 703, divided by the square of your height in inches. The easiest way to find your BMI is to visit a BMI calculator tool on the Internet.

A BMI below 18.5 is underweight; 18.5 – 25 is ideal; 25 – 30 is overweight; Over 30 is obese; and over 35 is morbidly obese.

Some athletes may have a high BMI without being true ‘overweight’. BMI underestimates the amount of fat in the overweight, and overestimates it in lean or muscular people.  

Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR): This is the ratio of your smallest waist circumference to the circumference of your hips at the widest part.

In men, a ratio of below 0.9 is healthy; 0.9 to 0.99 means a moderate risk of cardiovascular problems; 1 or over means a high risk.

This is a better indicator of whether your body weight is ideal or not. Those with large WHRs, called ‘apples’, have higher health risks than those with low WHRs, or ‘pears’. It’s because of the accumulation of abdominal/intra-abdominal fat.

Body fat percentage:  This is the weight of your fat as a percentage of your total weight.  It’s obtained by different techniques: near-infrared interaction, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, or bioelectrical impedance analysis. Many gyms have machines that measure it. You can also buy special scales for measuring body fat at home, costing under $100, but their accuracy is somewhat suspect.

For men, 18–25% is acceptable; 26–37% is overweight; and 38% or more is obese. For women, 25-31% is acceptable; 32-41% is overweight; and 42% or more is obese.

Body fat %age is probably the best measure to use, but it may be troublesome to get regular readings to check your progress towards good health. So go with the WHR – the tape-measure shouldn’t lie!