A validation study of body fat distribution as determined by self-measurement of waist and hip circumference.

The accuracy of self-measured waist and hip circumferences is investigated in 200 men and women 30-85 years old. Systematic bias is not found in circumferences measured by the men. Female subjects tend to underestimate waist circumference. This error is greatest in women with central fat distribution (characterized by waist:hip ratio). Misclassification of fat distribution pattern may result from this error, which may in turn lead to underestimation of associations between fat pattern and disease risk.