Where exactly should I measure my waist?
Find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hip bones, and put the tape halfway between them. For most people that sits just above the navel, not at the narrowest point and not at the belt line.
Breathe out normally before you read it. Do not pull the tape tight and do not hold your stomach in. Measure against skin rather than over clothing, and take it twice: if the two readings differ by more than a centimetre, take a third.
Getting the position wrong is the commonest reason two measurements disagree. Measuring at the narrowest point flatters most people by several centimetres, and measuring at the belt line usually does the opposite.
Source: NICE guideline NG246, how to measure waist circumference
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