Measure Waist
How to Measure Your Waist in 5 Steps:
- Prepare to measure waist – you must take your waist measurement on bare skin. You also have to do so with a flexible measuring tape (like the ones used by a tailor).
- Find your waist line. It is located at the very top of your hip bone. This spot is called your iliac crest. If you have problems locating your iliac crest, try this technique – stand-up in front of a mirror and bend over. Your waist will naturally form a crease. This crease will generally be located between around your belly button near the narrowest point of your mid-section.
- Get Ready. Stand up straight, relax, and exhale slowly.
- Measure your waist. Put the end of the tape on your waist line and wrap the tape around your body until the tape overlaps with the starting point. Make sure the tape is horizontal (parallel with the floor) and not squeezing into your skin.
- Write down your waist measurement. Measure your waist monthly to track changes.
Here is a simple tip if you are getting help from someone to take your waist measurement. Hold the end of the tape at one point on your waist line. Slowly turn in a circle while your helper stays in the same spot holding the other end of the tape. Adjust the tape so that it is parallel to the floor and take your waist measurement. Simple and eliminates any potential awkward moments of having someone reach around you.
Waist Measurement Results
If you followed the steps above you should now have your waist circumference measurement. Right now you’re either happy or not so happy! Either way, you have a baseline of where you are.
Knowing your waist measure can give you important information about your health risks. Too much abdominal fat puts you at high risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Below is a chart showing waist measurements correlated to increased health risks. The waist measure chart is also indicated by ethnicity.
| Men | Women | |
| European (Caucasian), Middle Eastern | >37 inches (94 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| South East Asians, Chinese | >35 inches (90 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| Japanese | >33 inches (85 cm) | >35 inches (90 cm) |
| East Mediterranean | >37 inches (94 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| Arab | >37 inches (94 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| Sub-Saharan Africans | >37 inches (94 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| South American | >35 inches (90 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
| Central American | >35 inches (90 cm) | >31.5 inches (80 cm) |
Adapted from the 2006 Canadian Obesity Guidelines.
Example: if you are a Chinese male and your waist is over 35 inches, you are at high risk for developing diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.
In the United States the cut-off points for waist circumference and health risks are currently: men = >40 inches (102 cm) and women = >35 inches (88 cm) regardless of ethnicity.
