Waist-to-Hip Ratio: Apple, Pear, and the WHO Cutoffs

Two people can carry identical weight and get very different bills for it, and the difference is geometry. The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is the oldest tape-measure index in health screening, and it asks exactly one question: of the fat you carry, how much sits at your middle versus around your hips? The answer sorts bodies into the famous apple and pear shapes — and the shapes carry different risk.

The formula and the WHO bands

One division, one number:

WHR = waist circumference ÷ hip circumference

Both measurements in the same unit — and since the units cancel out, the ratio is identical in centimetres or inches: 74 ÷ 98 cm and 29.1 ÷ 38.6 in both give 0.76. The unit selector exists for consistency only. The World Health Organization publishes risk bands that differ by sex, and these are the cutoffs the calculator applies:

          low risk      moderate risk   high risk
Men       below 0.90    0.90–0.99       1.00 and above
Women     below 0.80    0.80–0.84       0.85 and above

The woman from the example above, at 0.76, sits comfortably in the low-risk band with room to spare. If her waist drifts to 82 cm while her hips stay put, the ratio becomes 82 ÷ 98 = 0.84 — the moderate band, one point from high risk — with her scale weight unchanged. That is this metric's signature: it moves when fat redistributes, even at constant weight.

Why the hips belong in the denominator

Dividing by hip circumference is what makes this a shape index rather than a size index. Hips collect gluteofemoral fat — the storage around the hips and thighs that is comparatively inert and, population studies suggest, relatively protective metabolically. A broad, well-padded hip measurement lowers the ratio and signals a pear pattern. Fat that migrates to the abdomen raises it toward the apple pattern, where stores sit closer to the liver and gut, are more metabolically active, and are more strongly associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In the calculator's terms: at or above your sex's low-risk cutoff you are classified apple-shaped; below it, pear-shaped.

Measuring the hips (the half people get wrong)

The hip measurement has a precise definition: the widest point around the buttocks, tape level all the way around and snug but not compressing the skin, read at the end of a normal exhale, feet together. A mirror or a second pair of eyes helps keep the tape from dipping at the back — a tilted tape can add a couple of centimetres and quietly push the ratio down. The waist-side technique (the midpoint between ribs and hip bone) is covered step by step in the waist-to-height guide and uses the same tape discipline. Take both readings at the same sitting, and repeat future ones under the same conditions.

How it fits beside waist-to-height and BMI

WHR answers "where is the fat?", while waist-to-height answers "how much is there for my frame?" — the distinction unpacked from the other side in the WHtR guide. The two tape ratios can disagree: broad hips hold WHR down even when the waist is large relative to height, which is why guidelines suggest using both rather than trusting either alone. And because both are circumference screens, neither sees composition the way a direct estimate does (see how body fat is measured). As a habit, WHR is worth re-checking a couple of times a year: age-related redistribution shows up here before it shows up on the scale.

Try it yourself

The Waist-to-Hip Ratio Calculator divides your two measurements, applies the WHO bands for your sex, and labels the result apple or pear along with the exact cutoff distances. The Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator adds the frame-relative view, and the Body Fat Calculator estimates composition directly.