Waist size better guide to obesity than BMI test

Waist circumference is the most accurate obesity measure, Irish researchers have found.

Their study suggests that the extent to which obesity has grown over the last 20 years may be underestimated.

NUI Maynooth researchers found that waist circumference outperformed body mass index (BMI) — a key index for relating height to weight — and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) — the measurement of body fat in relation to lean body mass both BMI and BIA.