A thin wasp waist is the dream of many women. And the matter is not only in the aesthetic component, which is undoubtedly important. It turns out that the waist circumference is an important indicator that you need to know not only when choosing clothes. It is also an important marker that can report health among both women and men. So if after reading the article and taking measurements it turns out that the indicators leave much to be desired, this is an occasion to think about your health, go in for sports and review your diet.
How to measure waist circumference?
Making the necessary measurements is not at all difficult. To do this, you need an ordinary centimeter tape, which is in almost every house where they like to sew or play sports. It is better if the tape is as soft as possible.
Waist circumference must be measured at the narrowest point. Depending on the type of figure, this place can be either closer to the chest (high waist), or closer to the level of the hips (low waist). In most cases, the narrowest part of the body is at the navel level. If the waist is convex rather than concave, for example, in pregnant women or with excess weight, then the correct result can be obtained if a measurement is made a couple of centimeters above the navel.
The correct measurement position is to stand straight (preferably near a mirror) and lower your hands down. Measuring the waist circumference while sitting is not recommended. No need to strain the body and deceive yourself by drawing in your stomach. Body weight should be evenly distributed. Posture should also be typical for humans. You should not take measurements on top of clothing - the measurement result may be somewhat distorted.
Measuring your waist takes less than a minute! You need to wrap the meter around the waist parallel to the floor and slowly breathe out the air. It is important that the centimeter tape does not cut into the skin, do not wrap the waist too tight. The mark on the tape, which coincides with zero, is the waist circumference.
It is better to take the measurement twice, and if the data do not match, the average result is taken.
What are the numbers talking about?
Waist circumference is the basis for calculating indicators such as the waist-hip index or the waist-height index. An overestimated indicator indicates an increased risk to human health. If fat accumulates in the waist area, then most likely a person has an excess of visceral fat, which envelops the internal organs. Such fat is the cause of inflammatory processes and the development of many diseases (diabetes, coronary heart disease and other diseases of the cardiovascular system, hypertension, cancer).
Generally accepted standards
In men more than 102 cm, waist circumference over 88 cm in women - a warning about a possible health risk (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes). The norm can be considered in men - up to 94 cm, in women - up to 80 cm.
If we talk about the aesthetic component, then in most countries of the world women are considered attractive whose waist size is less than 70 cm. Researchers have found that every extra 5 cm in the waist area increases the possibility of premature death by 17% in men and 13% in women.
We measure not only the waist
By measuring your waist, you can also measure the size of your hips. The volume of the hips is measured with a centimeter tape according to the principles similar to measuring the waist (stand straight, do not “tighten” the meter), but along the widest part of the buttocks. Correspondence of waist to hip size is a popular indicator in the West that helps specialists to judge a person’s health and to some extent speaks about his attractiveness. So twin studies showed that this ratio in 22-61% of cases depends on genetic factors, and only then on nutrition and lifestyle.
Waist and hips as a measure of reproduction
Women with a thin waist have better health, they are less likely to suffer from infertility and diseases of the genitourinary system. The ratio of waist to hips, it turns out, is associated with the ability to conceive and give birth to a child. Men with an index of about 0.9 have a better chance of having a baby, and women with an index of 0.8 and above have a significantly greater chance of becoming pregnant naturally. Studies show that among girls with the same weight with a lower indicator of waist and hips, earlier puberty occurs. This is manifested in the growth of hormones.
A Dutch study of artificial insemination in 1993 showed that women with a low waist-hip index had a higher chance of becoming pregnant. It is noted that with an increase of 0.1 unit, the probability of conception in the cycle decreases by 30% (data obtained taking into account adjustments for age, weight, and also the reasons for artificial insemination). This can be confirmed by the fact that in African countries, where the canons of beauty are different from European ones, women have rather full hips (for example, 135 cm), but at the same time their waist is clearly expressed and their hips are already noticeably (for example, 100 cm). If you divide 100 by 135, you get 0.74 - a good indicator for having children.