Maria Pogrebnyak-Shatalova, a 30-year-old mother of three, has been under fire for an Instagram post measuring her 23-inch waist that she shared with her 625,000 followers.

For your best health, your waist should be less than 40 inches around for men, and less than 35 inches for women. If it’s larger than that, you may want to talk with your doctor about what your next steps are, including losing weight.

A result between 18.5 and 24.9 means you’re in the “normal” weight range for your height. If your result is under 18.5, you’re considered underweight. Between 25 and 29.9 means you’re considered overweight….Waist-to-hip ratio.

between 18.5 and 24.9, you’re at lowest risk of developing health problems. between 25 and 29.9, you’re considered overweight. 30 or more, you’re considered obese.

Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥88 cm and ≥102 cm for women and men, respectively. However, Xi et al. defined general obesity as BMI ≥28 kg/m2 and abdominal obesity as waist circumference ≥80 cm and ≥85 cm for Chinese women and men, respectively113.

Your waistline may be telling you that you have a higher risk of developing obesity-related conditions if you are1: A man whose waist circumference is more than 40 inches. A non-pregnant woman whose waist circumference is more than 35 inches.

The current Guinness World Record holder for the world’s smallest waist is Ethel Granger, of the UK, whose waist measured 13 inches. The record was set in 1939.

Waist Circumference If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.

Men and women who have waist circumferences greater than 40 inches (102 cm) and 35 inches (88 cm), respectively, are considered to be at increased risk for cardiometabolic disease (7).

For men, a waist circumference of 94 centimetres or more indicates an increased risk of chronic disease and a measurement of 102 centimetres or more indicates a higher increased risk of chronic disease. For women, a waist circumference of 80 centimetres or more indicates an increased risk of chronic disease and a measurement

In fact, a study that looked at data from 650,000 adults found an estimated decrease in life expectancy for the highest versus lowest waist circumference of approximately three years for men and five years for women.

For women, those with a 37-inch (94centimeter) waist had an 80 percent higher risk of death than did women with a 27.5-inch (70-centimeter) waist.

As every woman has different curves, it’s important to have a standard method for accurately measuring waist circumference. According to Harvard Medical School, the official landmark for placing the tape measure is slightly above the hip bone at the level of your belly button.