hip-to-waist ratio?! Please read and comment!

OK, so, I've never been really "overweight" but I was a little chubby growing up. Recently I've dropped about 10 lbs by running everyday, which I love to do. Anyways, my stas are:

height: 5 4', waist 27 in, and hips 33 in.,19 yrs old

I know about hip to waist ratio, and I know that women's ratio should be under 0.8. Mine was over that, it was like .085 or something. It says I am at a high risk of heart disease? huh? I consider myself a slim girl, and I have a defined stomach? I dont get it? And I cant make my hips any bigger? Pleeease help

Thanks guys :)

uh... where did you read that from?

The amount of misinformation out there is truly staggering. If you're concerned, go check things out with a doctor.

How the bloody hell can waist to hip ratio have ANYTHING to do with heart disease?  That's up there with the big hands/big feet rumour...

I can never understand how a group of Dr.s or whoever tells us these things can sit around and say this is how big you should be...everyone's bodies are shaped differently...in anatomy class we learned that peoples bones are shaped differently than others causing some people to have wider hips or waistes or buts...and so on !...My sister is thin but her but has always been a problem for her she has a hard time finding the right pants because pants are usually made for smaller buts and if she buys a bigger size  her waist is and legs are swimming in it.....society makes us believe that we should be shaped a certain way where in reality we are all different.

what it means is you are a shape that is "more likely" to have these issues.    I would say just workout and eat healthy.  You arent big by any means so dont worry about it now, and you are young!  Just keep an eye on it when you get older but for now dont stress about it.

it makes total sense... If you tend to carry weight around your waist, you are at a higher risk of heart disease. It is MUCH heathier to me a pear shape where you carry weight on your hips and thighs, rather than an apple, where you carry in on your waist. Its  medical fact

and if your hips are big because you're just bony?  It makes no sense, canada...because you can't help where your fat is.  You can help total body fat, but you can't pinpoint one certain spot to gain or lose fat.  so that ratio thing is BS.

I totally agree with finewine!

The only reason they have that ratio is to help you determine your body shape.  If you're over 0.8, it's considered an apple shape, and it's considered a pear shaped if you're under.  I've read that research has shown that an apple shape (ie, most of your weight around your midsection rather than your hips and thighs) is more likely to result in health problems because of the effect the abdominal fat has on your body.  This is valid only if you're actually carrying more abdominal fat though!  If you just have an un-curvy figure or no hips, don't worry about it.  If you're still concerned, go see a doctor and they should be able to let you know what's up.

Shouldn't that be a waist to hips ratio?  Meaning waist/hips?  (Sorry, it's the engineer in me) 

By my math, you're at 0.82, which looks pretty good to me.  I doubt I want to know what I'm at!  I think all ratios should be taken with a grain of salt, since hey, maybe you're just built straight up and down.  Anyway, as usual, Coachdee has a very informative post, so listen to her!

Unfortunately for me, canadagirl and coachdee are correct, I've read some of the studies. CNN had a report on it a while back as well, you might be able to find it on their website.

On a personal note, every woman on my father's side who had more of an apple shape died of heart failure. I definitely have no waist and no hips. Despite always having a naturally low cholesterol, low sodium diet, I am already taking cholesterol lowering drugs at the age of 23.