Army Body Fat Chart

How to read this chart

Each row is a height from 48 to 83.5 in — the full range of the official table — in the half-inch steps the Army records: height is measured in socks, no shoes, and recorded to the nearest half inch. The second column is the largest waist, in the half-inch steps waists are recorded in, whose ratio stays below 0.55 at that height. The third column shows the recorded ratio at exactly that waist, so you can see how close to the line the maximum sits: the values run from 0.540 to 0.549, never touching 0.550.

Two reading habits will keep you out of trouble. First, read the row for your recorded height, not your driver's-license height — a half inch of height is worth a quarter inch of waist, and at this boundary that matters. Second, treat the maximum as a line to stay under, not a number to aim at: an official measurement is three readings averaged, and a waist that lives exactly at the maximum will record over it on an ordinary day.

The 0.55 rule

The whole standard is one comparison: waist ÷ height, recorded to three decimal places without rounding, must be strictly below 0.55. Everything else about the old system — the age groups, the separate male and female tables, the screening weights, the body fat percentages — is gone, and nothing in this chart varies by age or sex: a 19-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man of the same height have the same maximum waist.

The 'without rounding' detail decides real cases. Because digits past the third decimal are disregarded, 0.5498 is recorded as 0.549 and meets the standard — an official example in the Army's own implementing guidance. Equally, a waist exactly at the boundary (38.5 in at 70 in) records exactly 0.550 and fails. Half-inch steps and truncation, not the raw division, are what the chart encodes — which is why the maximum climbs the table in half-inch steps (70 in → 38 in, 70.5 in → 38.5 in, 71 in → 39 in) as the boundary crosses each step in turn.

How the official measurement is taken

The chart assumes the official procedure (HQDA EXORD 182-26, Annex A); a home measurement taken differently is a guide, not a prediction:

1. Height in socks, without shoes, recorded to the nearest half inch. 2. Waist measured at the navel with a non-stretch fiberglass tape, held parallel to the floor, at the end of a normal breath out. 3. The waist is measured three times; each reading is rounded down to the nearest half inch. If one reading differs from the other two by more than an inch, an additional measurement is taken and the three closest are averaged. 4. The ratio is computed from the recorded figures and taken to three decimal places without rounding. 5. A reading at or above 0.550 is confirmed the same day by a different measurement team before any action follows.

Results are recorded on DA Form 5500 and in ATIS, and the measurement happens at least twice per calendar year. If your home number is anywhere near your row's maximum, technique is worth more than worry: bare skin, navel height, tape level all the way round.

Sources

This chart reproduces the maximum-waist screening table (Figure B-1) of HQDA EXORD 182-26, Annex A — the implementing guidance for the waist-to-height standard set by Army Directive 2026-13 (Army Publishing Directorate), with implementation coverage in the Army.mil article "The full measure: The Army's new WHtR standard". Every value is also generated arithmetically from the 0.55 rule, and the two agree row for row. The Army Resilience Directorate's ABCP page is the official program page; AUSA and FEDweek coverage corroborates the directive.

Maximum waist by height — the WHtR chart

Worked example — reading the chart

Related calculators

• Army Height and Weight CalculatorArmy height and weight calculator, 2026: the screening tables are gone — enter your height for your maximum waist under the WHtR standard, plus the chart.
• Army Body Fat Calculator for FemalesFemale Army body fat calculator for the 2026 standard: one WHtR threshold (below 0.55) for women and men — no separate female table.
• Army Body Composition Program (ABCP) CalculatorABCP calculator under the 2026 WHtR standard: current ratio, target waist, inches to come down, how flagging and enrollment work, and the 180-day rule.

Found your row? Put your own numbers through the waist-to-height calculator to see your recorded ratio.