You can be a healthy weight, have a normal BMI(Body Mass Index), and still be carrying a type of fat that raises your risk of serious disease. It’s called visceral fat — the hidden fat stored deep inside your body, around your organs — and unlike the fat under your skin, you can’t pinch it or see it in the mirror.
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This is why some people are described as “skinny fat”: slim on the outside, but carrying fat where it does the most harm. The only way to know how much visceral fat you have is to measure it. This article explains what visceral fat is, why it matters more than your body weight, and what actually works to reduce it.
What Is Visceral Fat?
Visceral fat is body fat stored deep inside your belly, around your internal organs — your liver, pancreas and intestines. It sits underneath your abdominal muscles, which is why you cannot pinch it with your fingers the way you can with the fat just under your skin.
It is often called hidden fat, because someone can look slim and still carry a high visceral fat level inside their body.
Visceral Body Fat vs Subcutaneous Fat
Your body stores fat in two main ways.
Subcutaneous fat is the fat directly under your skin — the fat you can pinch on your stomach, hips and thighs. It affects your body shape, but it is far less dangerous.
Visceral fat sits deeper, around your organs. What makes it different is that it behaves like an active organ itself: it produces inflammatory proteins and chemical signals that enter your blood. This is why a high amount of visceral fat raises your disease risk in a way that subcutaneous fat does not.
Why a High Visceral Fat Level Is Dangerous for Obesity
Because visceral fat is metabolically active, too much of it is linked to some of the most common serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. A high visceral fat level is closely tied to obesity and metabolic syndrome.
The risk is real even for people who look healthy. You can have a normal body weight and still carry enough hidden fat inside your body to raise your risk — which is exactly why measuring it matters more than watching the number on the scale.
How to Measure Your Visceral Hidden Fat Level
There are two practical ways.
At home, a tape measure around your waist gives a rough guide. As a general rule, a waist size over 90cm (35 inches) for women or 102cm (40 inches) for men suggests higher risk. Your waist-to-hip ratio — your waist size divided by your hip size — is another simple check.
Accurately, a body composition analysis gives you a specific visceral fat level rather than an estimate. At HealthDeliver, our body composition assessment measures your visceral fat, body fat percentage, muscle mass and metabolic rate, and a doctor explains what your results mean. It’s the difference between guessing from your waist size and knowing your actual number.
How to Reduce Visceral Fat
The good news: visceral fat responds well to lifestyle change, often faster than the fat under your skin. What works:
Eat fewer processed foods, added sugars and trans fats, and focus on whole foods, fibre and healthy proteins. In Thailand, watch sweet drinks and sugary coffees, which add up quickly.
Do a mix of cardio and weight training — aim for at least 30 minutes most days. Building muscle raises your metabolic rate, which helps you burn fat even at rest.
Get good sleep. Poor sleep raises cortisol, a stress hormone that encourages your body to store visceral fat. And manage daily stress and limit alcohol, both of which contribute to fat around your middle.
Because you cannot see visceral fat, the only way to know your efforts are working is to measure, act, and measure again.
Visceral Fat, BMI and Maintaining a Healthy Body for Better Metabolic Health
People of Asian descent tend to develop cardiometabolic risk — including from a high visceral fat level — at a lower BMI than Western populations. A BMI considered “healthy” on a Western chart can still carry raised risk here. This is why body composition, not BMI, is the more useful measure for maintaining a healthy body and better health in Thailand.
Find Out Your Visceral Fat Level
You can’t see visceral fat, and your bathroom scale won’t show it. A body composition assessment at our Phrom Phong clinic measures your visceral fat level, body fat, muscle mass and metabolic rate — and a HealthDeliver doctor explains exactly what your results mean.
About HealthDeliver for Better Health
HealthDeliver is a doctor-led medical clinic in Bangkok providing blood testing, health assessments, personalised nutrition and doctor consultations across our Asoke, Sathorn and Phrom Phong clinics, at home, and by telehealth.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can you be skinny and still have high visceral fat?
Yes. This is sometimes called being “skinny fat” — slim on the outside but carrying hidden fat around your organs. You can have a normal BMI (Body Mass Index)and still have a high visceral fat level, which is why measuring body composition is more useful than weight alone.
What is a healthy visceral fat level?
Lower is better, but there is no single number that suits everyone, because healthy ranges vary with age, sex and build. A body composition assessment gives you your specific visceral fat level and a doctor can tell you whether it sits in a healthy range for you.
How quickly can you reduce visceral fat?
Visceral fat often responds faster to diet and exercise than subcutaneous fat. With consistent changes to your diet, activity and sleep, measurable reductions are realistic over 8 to 12 weeks.
Does visceral fat go away with exercise?
Yes. A combination of cardio and weight training is one of the most effective ways to reduce visceral fat. Building muscle also raises your metabolic rate, helping you burn fat even at rest.
Is visceral fat worse than normal belly fat?
Yes. Visceral fat is more harmful than the subcutaneous fat under your skin because it is metabolically active and releases inflammatory proteins into your blood, raising your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
How is visceral fat measured in a clinic?
A body composition analysis measures your visceral fat level directly, along with your muscle mass, body fat percentage and metabolic rate. At HealthDeliver’s Phrom Phong clinic, a doctor reviews your results and explains what they mean.
