It's almost impossible for people to consistently measure, which throws self-assessment out the window, and remains a challenge in clinical settings. Pot belly

It's almost impossible for people to consistently measure, which throws self-assessment out the window, and remains a challenge in clinical settings. Pot belly guy measures his waist at his ribs, pear shaped lady rests the tape above her saddle bags, tape isn't level this time, tape is slack that time, etc etc It might only require tape and might have useful health correlates given good values, but getting those good values is just not something epidemiologists or even clinicians can rely on in the field.