The abdomen: hip ratio normative data and observations on selected patients

Normative data for abdominal circumference:hip circumference ratio, of current interest as a possible health risk, are presented for a large number of healthy subjects aged 6-71 years. The ratio declines during childhood, and during adolescence, in females, while that for males remains about the same. In the adult years there is a rise in the ratios for both sexes, that for males preceding the rise for females. For most of the age span, the sex difference and the age trends are such that age and sex must be taken into consideration in evaluating data on patients with various disorders. Patients with diabetes mellitus and those with obesity tend to have elevated abdomen:hip ratios at all ages. Those with cystic fibrosis also tend to have higher ratios, but here the difference is due to a smaller hip circumference rather than a larger abdominal circumference, and the same is true for the younger diabetics. The ratios for athletes are in the normal range but exhibit much less variability; those for patients with anorexia nervosa are normally distributed.