The associations of body fat distribution, as measured by waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR), with fasting serum cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were examined in 72 healthy postmenopausal women. WHR was not significantly correlated (P greater than 0.05) with either cortisol (r = -0.11) or ACTH (r = 0.10). There were no differences in either mean serum cortisol or ACTH for women in the highest tertile of WHR compared to those in the lowest tertile of WHR, even after adjustment for overall body mass. These results suggest that neither cortisol or ACTH is associated with body fat distribution in postmenopausal women.