Visceral Fat Level Estimate Calculator

About this calculator

Visceral fat is the fat packed around internal organs in the abdominal cavity, distinct from the subcutaneous fat you can pinch — it's metabolically active tissue linked to higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome even in people who aren't overweight overall. Body composition monitors (like those from Omron and Tanita) report it on a proprietary 1-59 scale, where 1-9 is considered healthy, 10-14 is elevated, and 15+ is considered high.

Since most people don't own one of those bioelectrical impedance scales, researchers have developed regression-based estimates from simpler measurements — waist circumference, height, age and sex — that approximate the same 1-59 scale reasonably well for screening purposes, letting someone get a rough read without specialized equipment, though it's not a substitute for a clinical measurement like a CT or DEXA scan when precision matters.

This calculator takes your waist circumference, height, age and sex and estimates your visceral fat level on the same 1-59 scale used by body composition monitors.