For Measuring Obesity, Tape Measure Replaces the Scale

For decades, body mass index (BMI) has been the dominant tool for defining obesity, despite longstanding concerns that it poorly reflects individual health risk. Growing evidence suggests that the waist-to-height ratio, a simple measure of abdominal fat distribution, outperforms BMI in predicting cardiometabolic disease and mortality. Now, with large-scale data confirming its advantages and the US military adopting it as a new fitness standard, this long-overlooked metric may finally be moving into the mainstream.