reduce WHRGenetics, gender, and age are all factors in determining your Waist Hip Ratio. Women tend to have a lower ratio as they have smaller waists and bigger hips, whilst men tend to be broader on the shoulders, narrower on the hips and tend to develop a bigger stomach as they gain weight.

Regardless of gender, storing weight in the central body is unhealthy as it puts pressure on the body’s organs. As you get older you tend to store more weight in the middle region, so if your doctor is trying to assess your health risks they will probably look at your WHR as well as your BMI.

Exercise

You don’t need to take up a sport or start pumping iron at the gym to reduce your WHR. Keeping active will help to stop your body from storing excess fat, even if it is just gentle exercise such as regular walking or swimming, or taking the stairs instead of the lift. This will also help to break down abdominal fat. But if you do start exercising properly you will not only burn off body fat but you will improve your muscle tone, fitness and cardiac health too.

Food and drink

Alcohol has nearly as many calories as pure fat! Not many people realize this and alcohol is, therefore, often a culprit in ‘mystery’ weight gain. Not only does alcohol provide hidden calories but it can affect the liver which, if coupled with excess liver fat, can increase waist size on the outside as well as the inside.

Additionally a healthy balanced diet will help to control weight and prevent the buildup of excess fat within the body.  A low fiber, low fat, low calorie diet is ideal but there are a variety of diets that can help you to get started with weight loss. You need to eat around 500 calories less a day to lose 1lb a week.

For some it’s not as easy as dieting; they may try low fat, low calorie, low carb diets, liquid only diets; if this sounds like you then you may want to consider weight loss surgery to help you get started on the track to a healthier you.