Fitness Testing

Waist or Abdominal Girth

aim: the purpose of determining waist girth is to gain a measure of the amount of abdominal fat (visceral fat), which has been linked to increased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes.
equipment required: flexible metal tape measure and pen for marking the skin. If a plastic or cloth tape is used, it should be checked regularly against a metal tape as others may stretch over time.
description / procedure: The waist measurement is taken at the narrowest waist level, or if this is not apparent, at the mid point between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone (illiac crest). When recording, you need to make sure the tape is not too tight or too loose, is lying flat on the skin, and is horizontal.

Risk	cm	inches	cm	inches
	Men		Women
Very High	> 120	> 47	> 110	> 43.5
High	100 - 120	39.5 - 47	90 - 109	35.5 - 43
Low	80 - 99	31.5 - 39	70 - 89	28.5 - 35
Very Low	<80	< 31.5	< 70	< 28.5

Source: ACSM (2005) ACSM guidelines for exercise testing and prescription, 7th ed. Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, 61

validity: The health risk may not be accurate in those individuals with thick waist musculature or those that are particularly tall or short. For women who deposit fat primarily lower on the body (hips, buttocks, and thighs), waist measurements in isolation are have a poor relationship with health factors.

reliability: Factors that may affect reliability include changes to the testing personnel, constant and even tension on the tape, and correct landmarking (finding the correct anatomical site for measurement).
advantages: low costs involved in the testing procedure, and ease of self testing
comments: Clothing over the site should be removed if possible to make sure measuring tape is positioned correctly and that the correct circumference is determined. Girth measurements combined with skinfold measurements can give a clearer picture of changes in tissue composition and distribution of muscle and fat.
references:
- Björntorp P (1992). Abdominal fat distribution and the metabolic syndrome. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol : 20 Supp 8: S26-S28.
- Pouliot M-C, Després JP, Lemieux S, Moorjani S, Bouchard C, Tremblay A, Nadeau A, Lupien PJ. (1994). Waist circumference and abdominal sagittal diameter: best simple anthropometric indexes of abdominal visceral adipose tissue accumulation and related cardiovascular risk in men and women. Am J Cardio. 73: 460-468.
- Welborn TA, Satvinder S Dhaliwal and Stanley A Bennett (2003). Waist–hip ratio is the dominant risk factor predicting cardiovascular death in Australia. The Medical Journal of Australia; 179 (11/12): 580-585.