Synonyms
Definition
It is the ratio of perimeter of waist to the hip.
Waist-Hip Ratio
Fat is one of the most important constituent of diet. However, fat deposition in the body could be harmful to health among all the people irrespective of age, sex, and ethnicity. Fat tends to deposit in abdomen and hip than any other place in the body, for both male and females. Waist-hip ratio is a significant health parameter, and it relates with serious health problems. Waist-hip ratio describes distribution of harmful fat around abdominal region (visceral fat). Overweight and obesity are often found to be related to major human disorders responsible for several deaths worldwide like diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, and several other disorders (Emery et al. 1993).
Nowadays, doctors consider waist-hip ratio along with body mass index (BMI) for determining fat distribution. Some consider it as better parameter than BMI (as it fails to predict body fat distribution), which...
References
Boehm, K., Sun, M., Larcher, A., Blanc-Lapierre, A., Schiffmann, J., Graefen, M., Sosa, J., Saad, F., Parent, M.-É., & Karakiewicz, P. I. (2015). Waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, body mass index, and prostate cancer risk: Results from the North-American case-control study Prostate Cancer & Environment Study. Urologic Oncology, 33, 494.e1–494.e7.
Emery, E. M., Schmid, T. L., Kahn, H. S., & Filozof, P. P. (1993). A review of the association between abdominal fat distribution, health outcome measures, and modifiable risk factors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 7, 342–353.
Fan, J., Dai, W., Liu, F., & Wu, J. (2005). Visual perception of male body attractiveness. Proceedings of Biological Sciences, 272, 219–226.
Henss, R. (2000). Waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness. Evidence from photographic stimuli and methodological considerations. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 501–513.
Price, G. M., Uauy, R., Breeze, E., Bulpitt, C. J., & Fletcher, A. E. (2006). Weight, shape, and mortality risk in older persons: Elevated waist-hip ratio, not high body mass index, is associated with a greater risk of death. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 84, 449–460.
Qiao, Q., & Nyamdorj, R. (2010). Is the association of type II diabetes with waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio stronger than that with body mass index? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64, 30–34.
Singh, D. (2002). Female mate value at a glance: Relationship of waist-to-hip ratio to health, fecundity and attractiveness. Neuro Endocrinology Letter, 4, 81–91.
Streng, K. W., et al. (2018). Waist-to-hip ratio and mortality in heart failure. European Journal of Heart Failure, 20, 1269–1277.
WHO Report. Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio, Report of a WHO Expert Consultation. World Health Organization, 8–11 December 2008.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kumar, V. (2019). Waist-Hip Ratio. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1930-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1930-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences