What is the best way to measure your waist circumference?
Marieke
Patricia Schutte, nutritionist
Dear Marieke,
You can measure your waist circumference by placing a tape measure around your waist. Make sure the tape measure is between the bottom of your lower rib and the top of your pelvis. Exhale and read your waist circumference. In this table see if your waist circumference is appropriate for a healthy weight.
Measuring your waist circumference is useful to see where your body fat is. Fat in and around the abdomen is detrimental to your health. To find out if you are a healthy weight, you can measure your waist circumference and your Body Mass Index calculate (BMI). Together they give a good picture of a healthy weight.
Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose. The other conditions can be found here.
Patricia Schutte has been working as an information officer at the Nutrition Center in The Hague for more than 25 years. She answers questions about healthy, sustainable and safe food.
Liesbeth van Rossum is an internist and endocrinologist and Mariette Boon is an internist in training and researcher into brown fat. Together they wrote the bestseller ‘Fat important‘. This duo knows all about body fat and how you can influence it. Do you want to lose weight? Listen to the podcast below before you start a diet, because then you can avoid common mistakes.
