Study finds waist size and waist-to-hip ratio predict cardiovascular risk more accurately than BMI alone

A study in JACC found that abdominal fat measures such as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio can better identify cardiovascular disease risk than BMI alone. Researchers said BMI may misclassify some people, including those with normal weight but elevated central fat, who may still face higher heart risk.

The findings add momentum to a shift away from BMI as the default obesity and health-risk metric. Wider use of central adiposity measures could improve prevention strategies by identifying high-risk patients earlier, especially those missed by traditional weight categories.