Your BMI number
may be misleading you.

Age is included directly in the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index: the most accurate visceral fat predictor for Asian women after menopause.

Under Asia-Pacific standards: BMI ≥23 = overweight. BMI ≥25 = obese. Standard Western calculators miss this entirely.

How to measure: Stand upright, breathe out gently, then measure around your navel (belly button) with the tape snug but not tight.

For Indian women, risk starts at ≥80 cm, not the Western 88 cm standard. Waist measurement is often more important than BMI.

Having even one of these alongside BMI ≥25 lowers the threshold for pharmacotherapy under ESI 2025 guidelines, so this changes your results meaningfully.

How to measure: Sit in a chair, relax your leg, and measure around the widest part of your lower leg.

AWGS threshold: under 33 cm = likely low muscle mass. This is a free, validated screening tool, no hospital equipment needed.

Measured with your dominant (writing) hand. Available at most physiotherapy clinics and some pharmacies. AWGS threshold for women: under 18 kg.

Your usual comfortable walking pace. AWGS uses <1.0 m/s as the low physical performance threshold for women.