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Video / Sharecare Experts / Neal Barnard, MD / What Does the Waist to Hip Ratio Determine?

What Does the Waist to Hip Ratio Determine?

What Does the Waist to Hip Ratio Determine? (0:34)

The waist to hip ratio determines if a person is carrying too much dangerous belly fat, also called visceral fat. Watch as Neal Barnard, MD, explains why we need to be concerned about visceral fat around the waist, vs. fat in our hips and thighs.

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The waist hip ratio is really simple, you take a tap measure, measure around your waist, measure around your hips. What that is going to show me is where I've got dangerous fat. The dangerous fat is belly fat. We call it visceral fat. Fat around the internal organs. That increases the risk of a number of health problems, but thigh fat and hip fat, there aren't any organs in my thighs that's just muscle so that fat under the skin it's innocuous it's not going to hurt you.

So, the waist-hip ratio shows you where the fat is, and that's what matters.