Abstract
The benefits and limitations of anthropometric measures (weight and shape) to assess the health risks of obesity are discussed. They include the body mass index, the waist-to-hip ratio, the waist circumference (WC), and the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).
The use of WHtR, a proxy for central obesity and shape, could be an important new public health screening tool that can be used for all adults and children older than 5 years, in all ethnic groups. Use of a boundary value of WHtR 0.5 to denote increased risk converts into a simple message: "Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height."