Question

The Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) is a ratio commonly expressed as a decimal that has been shown to be a good predictor of possible cardiovascular problems in both men and women. If Jonia has a WHR greater than 1, she is at “high risk” for cardiovascular problems. Calculate Jonia’s WHR with a waist measurement of 42 inches and a hip measurement 2 inches less.
17. What important information was provided in the word problem? Type answer here

18. What information must be found? Type answer here

19. What is Jonia’s hip measurement? Type answer here 20. Is Jonia “high risk”? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

17.

• the question to be answered
• the meaning of the term WHR
• Jonia's waist measurement
• information to find Jonia's hip measurement

18.

• Jonia's hip measurement
• the ratio of Jonia's waist measurement to her hip measurement

19.

• 40 inches
• Yes
• Her WHR > 1, which the problem statement says means she is at "high risk".

Step-by-step explanation:

17. The most important bit of information the problem statement gives is the question to be answered. Without that, the rest of the "information" has no meaning. If the question uses wording or symbols that have a specific meaning in the context of the problem, but no particular meaning outside that context, it is important for the problem statement to define terms. It is also important for relevant information to be provided (assuming it's not a research question). Here, we're to find a specific ratio, so we need to know the data values that go into the computation of that ratio. This problem doesn't give the data directly, but gives a relation that lets the required information be computed.

18. Jonia's hip measurement is not in the given information. It must be computed from her waist measurement and the given information that the hip measurement is 2 inches less. Of course, the answer to the question must also be found: the WHR.

19. Her hip measurement is 2 inches less than her 42-inch waist measurement, hence 42-2 = 40 inches.

Jonia's WHR is 42/40 = 1.05. This value is greater than 1. The problem statement tells you a value greater than 1 means she is at "high risk."

(You don't actually need to calculate the WHR to answer the "high risk" question. Simply knowing her hip measurement is less than her waist measurement is sufficient to tell you the WHR is greater than 1.)