Measure your waist, enter your height, and see which central-adiposity band you fall into under the NICE guidance. It works where BMI struggles, including for men carrying a lot of muscle. Nothing is stored.

Your waist-to-height ratio

0.53

Increased central adiposity

Keeping your waist under half your height puts you in the healthy band.

Bands follow NICE guidance on central adiposity: 0.4 to 0.49 is healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 carries increased health risk, and 0.6 or more carries further increased risk. They apply to adults with a BMI under 35, including men with a lot of muscle, which is where BMI is least useful. A raised ratio is a prompt to talk to a doctor about blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, not a diagnosis. This tool is information, not medical advice.

How it works

Divide your waist measurement by your height, in the same unit. The tool does the arithmetic and tells you which band the result falls in.

The formula and sources

Waist divided by height. The bands come from NICE guidance on central adiposity: 0.4 to 0.49 is healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 means increased health risk, and 0.6 or more means further increased risk. They apply to adults with a BMI under 35, of both sexes and all ethnic groups, including people with high muscle mass. The plain-English version is to keep your waist under half your height.

Assumptions

You are an adult with a BMI under 35.
Waist is measured against skin, midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, after breathing out.
Both measurements use the same unit.

Limitations

It measures shape, not health. A raised ratio predicts risk across a population; it does not diagnose anything in one man. Tape placement is the main source of error, so measure the same way each time.

When to see a doctor

If your ratio is 0.5 or above, ask about blood pressure, HbA1c and a lipid panel. Those numbers, not the tape, tell you what the extra weight is doing.

Frequently asked questions

What is a healthy waist-to-height ratio?

0.4 to 0.49 in the NICE bands. The simplest version of the advice is to keep your waist under half your height.

Where exactly do I measure my waist?

Against skin, midway between the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hip bone, after breathing out. Your trouser size is not the same measurement and usually reads smaller.

Is waist-to-height better than BMI?

For central fat, yes. It applies to men with high muscle mass, where BMI misleads, and it tracks the fat around your organs rather than total weight.

My ratio is over 0.5. What now?

It is a prompt, not a diagnosis. Ask your doctor about blood pressure, HbA1c and cholesterol, and work on waist rather than scale weight.

Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator for Men