Clinical Medicine & Physiology
Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) Calculator: Amato Sex-Specific Waist-BMI-Lipid Formula
Quantify visceral adipose dysfunction and cardiometabolic risk using Marco C. Amato et al.’s (2010, Diabetes Care) sex-specific Visceral Adiposity Index combining Waist Circumference, BMI, Triglycerides (mmol/L), and HDL-C (mmol/L).
Combine anatomical central waist excess with functional dyslipidemia (high TG, low HDL) in one MRI-calibrated score!
Two adults with identical 98 cm waist circumferences can harbor vastly different amounts of metabolically toxic intra-abdominal visceral fat vs benign subcutaneous fat! Calibrated against abdominal MRI visceral fat area and insulin sensitivity by Marco C. Amato et al. (2010, Diabetes Care), the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) normalizes a healthy lean non-dyslipidemic reference adult to VAI = 1.00 across separate male and female equations (with TG and HDL expressed in mmol/L; if measured in mg/dL, divide TG by 88.57 and HDL by 38.67):
For Men: VAI_M = (WC_cm / (39.68 + 1.88 * BMI)) * (TG_mmol / 1.03) * (1.31 / HDL_mmol)! For Women: VAI_F = (WC_cm / (36.58 + 1.89 * BMI)) * (TG_mmol / 0.81) * (1.52 / HDL_mmol)! Across middle-aged adults, Amato et al. (2011) identified VAI > ~1.92–2.52 as a strong marker of adipose-tissue dysfunction, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular events!
| Patient Profile (WC cm, BMI kg/m^2, TG & HDL in mmol/L) | Applicable Amato Equation | Evaluated VAI Score |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy Reference Male (WC=83.2, BMI=23.15, TG=1.03, HDL=1.31) | VAI_M Baseline | 1.00 (Ideal Adipose Function) |
| Dyslipidemic Male (WC=102, BMI=29.5, TG=2.10, HDL=0.95) | VAI_M | 3.06 (Marked Visceral Dysfunction) |
| Dyslipidemic Female (WC=92, BMI=28.0, TG=1.80, HDL=1.15) | VAI_F | 3.02 (Marked Visceral Dysfunction) |
Amato (2010) Sex-Specific Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI, mmol/L Lipids)
Evaluates Male or Female VAI from Sex B2 ("M" or "F"), Waist B3 (cm), BMI B4 (kg/m^2), Triglycerides B5 (mmol/L), and HDL-C B6 (mmol/L).
=IF(OR(AND(B2 <> "M", B2 <> "F"), B3 < 45, B3 > 200, B4 < 14, B4 > 75, B5 <= 0, B6 <= 0), "Invalid Sex (M/F), Waist, BMI, or Lipid (mmol/L) Inputs", ROUND(IF(B2 = "M", (B3 / (39.68 + 1.88 * B4)) * (B5 / 1.03) * (1.31 / B6), (B3 / (36.58 + 1.89 * B4)) * (B5 / 0.81) * (1.52 / B6)), 2))VAI Adipose-Tissue Dysfunction Classification (> 2.00 Cutoff)
Flags VAI > 2.00 for elevated cardiometabolic visceral adipose dysfunction.
=IF(OR(AND(B2 <> "M", B2 <> "F"), B3 < 45, B3 > 200, B4 < 14, B4 > 75, B5 <= 0, B6 <= 0), "Invalid Sex (M/F), Waist, BMI, or Lipid (mmol/L) Inputs", IF(IF(B2 = "M", (B3 / (39.68 + 1.88 * B4)) * (B5 / 1.03) * (1.31 / B6), (B3 / (36.58 + 1.89 * B4)) * (B5 / 0.81) * (1.52 / B6)) > 2, "VAI > 2.00: Elevated Visceral Adipose Dysfunction", "VAI <= 2.00: Preserved Adipose-Lipid Profile"))Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.