Originally Posted by gingernut
On a practical note, measuring hips and wrists probably won't happen, unless we could demonstrate real health benefit.
Already been done.
Waist-to-hip ratio shows a graded and highly significant association with myocardial infarction risk worldwide. Redefinition of obesity based on waist-to-hip ratio instead of BMI increases the estimate of myocardial infarction attributable to obesity in most ethnic groups.
Obesity and the risk of myocardial infarction in 27 000 participants from 52 countries: a case-control study
Yusuf et al.
The Lancet 2005; 366:1640-1649
You would be better off working on your patient's waist:hip than working on their exercise habits! It will come through, just needs NICE to get round to doing something about it, I am sure they are aware of it.