Body Shape Calculator for Women: Find Your Body Type

Are you an hourglass, a pear, an apple or a rectangle? Knowing your body shape can help with choosing clothes, but there’s a more useful reason to measure: where your body stores fat says something about your health.

This free body shape calculator uses three tape measurements to find your shape, then shows your waist-to-hip ratio and what it means. Every body shape is normal, and nothing you enter is saved.

Body Shape Calculator

Find your body shape from 3 measurements, plus your waist-to-hip ratio and what it means for your health.

Around the fullest part of your chest, tape level all the way around.
Around your natural waist, usually just above the belly button. Breathe out normally.
Around the widest part of your hips and bottom, feet together.
Please enter all 3 measurements.

Body shape is a simple guide based on how your bust, waist and hips compare. Every shape is normal. The health part comes from your waist size and waist-to-hip ratio, based on World Health Organization cut-offs.

How to Measure Yourself

Use a soft tape measure, stand straight, and keep the tape level and snug but not tight.

  • Bust: around the fullest part of your chest, wearing a non-padded bra.
  • Waist: around your natural waist, usually the narrowest part, just above your belly button. Breathe out normally before measuring.
  • Hips: around the widest part of your hips and bottom, with your feet together.

The 5 Body Shapes

ShapeWhat it looks like
HourglassBust and hips about the same size, with a clearly smaller waist
Pear (triangle)Hips wider than bust; weight tends to go to hips and thighs
Inverted triangleBust and shoulders wider than hips
RectangleBust, waist and hips fairly similar; straighter waistline
Apple (round)Waist close to or larger than bust or hips; weight tends to go to the middle

How the calculator decides: a difference of about 3.6 inches or more between bust and hips makes you a pear or inverted triangle. If they’re closer, a waist about 9 to 10 inches smaller than your bust or hips makes you an hourglass; otherwise you’re a rectangle. If your waist is close to or bigger than your hips and bust, you’re an apple. These cut-offs are common rules of thumb, not medical standards.

Why Your Waist Matters More Than Your Shape

Your body shape is mostly about your frame and genes. Your waist size and waist-to-hip ratio are the parts that matter for health, because they show how much fat is stored around your belly.

Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) for women (World Health Organization):

Waist-to-hip ratioHealth risk
Under 0.80Low
0.80 to 0.84Moderate
0.85 or higherHigher

Waist size alone: for women, a waist over 35 inches (88 cm) is linked with a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to the NHLBI.

To find your WHR, divide your waist by your hips. For example, a 32-inch waist and 40-inch hips: 32 ÷ 40 = 0.80. Want to know what your waist and hips say about your health? Try our waist-to-hip ratio calculator.

Does Body Shape Change With Age and Menopause?

Yes, for many women. As estrogen falls around menopause, the body tends to store more fat around the waist instead of the hips and thighs. Research has found that belly (visceral) fat goes up during the menopause transition, even when total weight doesn’t change much. So a pear shape at 35 can drift toward a rectangle or apple shape at 55.

What helps:

  • Strength training 2 or more days a week to keep muscle
  • Regular walking or other moderate activity (aim for 150 minutes a week)
  • Enough protein and fiber, and less alcohol and added sugar
  • Good sleep, since poor sleep is linked with more belly fat

Body Shape vs BMI vs Body Fat

  • BMI compares weight and height but can’t tell where fat is stored. Check yours with our BMI calculator for women.
  • Body fat % estimates how much of your weight is fat. Try our body fat calculator.
  • Waist and WHR show where fat is stored, which this calculator covers.

Using all three gives a fuller picture than any single number.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common body shape for women?

Studies of measurements suggest rectangle and pear shapes are the most common, and a true hourglass is less common than fashion magazines suggest.

Can I change my body shape?

Your bone structure won’t change, but losing belly fat and building muscle can change your waist size and proportions.

Is an apple shape unhealthy?

Not on its own, but carrying more fat around the middle is linked with higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. If your waist is over 35 inches or your WHR is 0.85 or more, it’s worth talking to your doctor about checking your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol.

Why does the calculator ask for centimeters or inches?

You can use either. The shape rules work the same way in both.

Related Tools

This calculator is for general information only and is not medical advice. Read our Medical Disclaimer and Editorial Policy.

Sources

Health note: Content on this site is for general information only and is not medical advice. Always consult your doctor about health concerns.

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