How to measure abdominal circumference
- Clear your abdominal area of any clothing, belts or accessories. Stand upright facing a mirror with your feet shoulder-width apart and your stomach relaxed. Wrap the measuring tape around your waist.
- Use the borders of your hands and index fingers – not your fingertips – to find the uppermost edge of your hipbones by pressing upwards and inwards along your hipbones.
Tip: Many people mistake an easily felt part of the hipbone located toward the front of their body as the top of their hips. This part of the bone is in fact not the top of the hip bones, but by following this spot upward and back toward the sides of your body, you should be able to locate the true top of your hipbones.
- Using the mirror, align the bottom edge of the measuring tape with the top of the hipbones on both sides of your body.
Tip: Once located, it may help to mark the top of your hipbones with a pen or felt-tip marker in order to aid you in correctly placing the tape.
- Make sure the tape is parallel to the floor and is not twisted.
- Relax and take two normal breaths. After the second breath out, tighten the tape around your waist. The tape should fit comfortably snug around the waist without depressing the skin.
Tip: Remember to keep your stomach relaxed at this point.
- Still breathing normally, take the reading on the tape.
Blood Pressure U.K.
John Hopkins University
Canadian Diabetes Association
Heart & Stoke Foundation