Body mass index (BMI), defined as weight divided by the square of height, was developed to allow assessment of weight independent of height. Other measures have also been considered in an attempt to better capture risk for all-cause mortality as well as obesity related morbidities, which include such conditions as hypertension, atherosclerotic vascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, and the recently defined locomotive syndrome. Thus, BMI has come to be augmented by other simple biometrics, primarily waist circumference (WC) and various derivatives of WC such as waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-height ratio (WHtR). The top open access journals are peer reviewed scholarly journals of Journals of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy.