OBESITY AND DIABETES RISK CALCULATOR

The calculator requires four inputs to calculate its outputs accurately. The required inputs are: your gender, age, height and weight.

To feed, you can use the “metric units” for example, centimetres (cm) and kilograms (kg) for worldwide measurements or the “imperial units” for example, feet (ft), inches (inch) and pounds (lb) for United States (US) units.

The below outputs generated from this calculator are modelled based on your BMI and age.

If you are overweight or obese;

1. Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
2. Your Healthy Weight Target Range
3. Your Minimum Weight Reduction Goal
4. Your Ideal Weight Reduction Goal
5. Your Risk Of Diabetes If You Remain At Your Current Weight
6. Your Risk Of Diabetes If You Achieve Your Ideal Weight Reduction Goal
7. Your Diabetes Risk Reduction Percentage (%) With The Ideal Weight Reduction

If you are underweight;

1. Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
2. Your Healthy Weight Target Range
3. Your Minimum Weight Gain Goal
4. Your Ideal Weight Gain Goal
5. Your Current Risk Of Diabetes

BMI is a measure of how much bodyweight you have compared to your height. It helps us know if you have a healthy body weight. The value you get from your BMI helps classify you as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. The ranges differ based on age and where you live.

While BMI isn’t perfect, it gives us a good idea of whether you need further health checks.

The table below shows BMI ranges and what they mean.

The World Health Organization’s recommends the below classification for people 20 years and older.

Being overweight can lead to serious health problems. Some of these include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even certain cancers. If you are overweight or obese, your risk of stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, mental illness and body pains increases. ​

In contrast, if you’re underweight, you might face issues like weakened bones (osteoporosis), a weaker immune system, and growth and reproducƟon-related problems.

Both being too heavy or too light can increase the risk of death compared to a healthy weight.

Being overweight raises the risk of type 2 diabetes. By reducing your weight, you can reduce your diabetes risk. The calculator helps you set goals for both weight and risk reduction based on scientific research.

The expert opinion and scientific literature suggest that above the body mass index (BMI) of 22 kg/m², each 2.5-unit increase in BMI roughly doubles the risk of diabetes, no matter the starting BMI. For instance, if someone with a BMI of 27 kg/m² aims for a BMI reduction of 5 units, their diabetes risk reduces by about 75%.

When you know your BMI, you can figure out your BMI reduction goal (by subtracting 22). However, the weight reduction goal depends on your height. This calculator aimed to create a simple way to calculate the needed weight change for a specific BMI reduction goal, helping avoid the excess risk of diabetes and gauging prevention.​

If your waist measurement is less than 85 cm (33.5 inches) for men or 75 cm (29.5 inches) for women, this calculator might overestimate your diabetes risk. Being overweight increases type 2 diabetes risk.

Data in scientific literature shows that above an optimal BMI of 22 kg/m², a 2.5-unit increase raises diabetes risk. The risk reduction formula helps you understand how weight loss reduces diabetes risk. This approach uses the percentage of body weight to show the necessary reduction for risk avoidance. ​

To convert a percentage risk reduction to an absolute one, divide the percentage by its complement (e.g., 80% becomes 80/20) and multiply by 5. This provides the absolute risk reduction for 1000 people over 10 years. For example, a 75% risk reduction results in an absolute reduction of 15 out of 1000 people, or 1.5%.

The algorithm is based on data from US health professionals. Despite changes in overweight and diabetes rates since then, the algorithm’s validity remains intact even today.

It’s important for those with an elevated BMI due to muscle rather than fat. A rule is to consider those with a waist circumference less than 85 cm (33.4 inches) for males and 75 cm (29.5 inches) for females as not at excess risk, regardless of BMI.

Changing BMI can be confusing, as weight can change, but height cannot. To move from a BMI of 25 to 22 kg/m², aim for a 12% weight reduction, the same proportion as the BMI decrease. For example, if you weigh 70 kg, aim to lose 10% (7 kg) of your weight.

As an online tool, this ‘Obesity and Diabetes Risk Calculator,’ is available for free for our audience. It helps determine your weight reduction goal to decrease excess diabetes risk due to being overweight. It also calculates your risk reductioon over the next 10 years.

The BMI and Weight Reduction Goal is applicable when your BMI is over 22 kg/m².

The calculator measures your weight based on your height, your ideal BMI Reduction goal to achieve 22 kg/m² and your minimum weight Reduction goal to achieve 25 kg/m2.

When your BMI is over 22 kg/m², the calculation provides your diabetes risk if you remain at the current weight and the risk if you achieve your ideal weight reduction goal of 22 kg/m², and subsequent the reduction of diabetes risk.

The BMI and Weight Gain Goal is applicable when your BMI is under 22 kg/m². ​

The calculator measures your weight based on your height, your ideal BMI Gain goal to achieve 22 kg/m² and your minimum weight gain goal to achieve 18.5 kg/m2. When the BMI is under 22 kg/m², the calculation provides only the risk for diabetes if you remain at your current weight. This calculation varies by the effect of age and BMI.

For example, when the BMI is at 21.8, ‘1 in 417’ chance, and when the BMI is 17.3, ‘1 in 1332’ when you are 40. When you are 30, the risk is even reduced to ‘1 in 2467’. And, when the age increases to 50, the risk is increased to ‘1 in 726’ although the BMI is constant at 17.3.

Our modelling has not been able to accurately calculate the diabetes risk if you achieve your ideal weight gain of 22 kg/m² and its potential effect on diabetes diagnosis in the future. Hence, this calculation results in a 0% in the ‘diabetes risk reduction’.

Knowing your weight reduction goal and its benefits, along with the possibility of partial achievement, empowers you to tackle the substantial risks of diabetes caused by excess weight. Even partial weight reduction can bring meaningful benefits.​

While BMI is helpful, it doesn’t consider everything. People with more muscles, like athletes, might have a higher BMI without being unhealthy. For children, height and growth can affect BMI. It’s part of the health picture, but not the whole story. Consequently, our calculator’s outputs can be inaccurate and not precise.

The Diabetes Risk Calculation have limitations too. If you’re a man with a waist of 85 cm (33.5 in) or less, or a woman with a waist of 75 cm (29.5 in) or less, this calculator might overestimate your diabetes risk.

After all, a high BMI is only one factor affecting your type 2 diabetes risk, and the intention of this calculator is to calculate that risk for someone with a BMI is 22 kg/m². While doing so, the calculation ignores the other risk factors for diabetes, such as genetic associations or your risk based on your history of gestational diabetes or prediabetes.

This diabetes risk is also higher in people who smoke tobacco products and have a sedentary lifestyle (lack of healthy diet and physical activity), and this calculator also doesn’t consider those factors in this assessment.

Remember, some cluster populations, such as the black population in the USA and the Indigenous population in Australia, have an increased risk of diabetes compared to the general population. This disparity is not acknowledged in this calculator; hence, if you assess the risk of such a population, the results may have inaccuracies.

This calculator is a handy online tool that you can use for free. It shows your weight goal, risk reduction, and more. If you’re concerned about your weight or diabetes risk, you should always talk to a doctor. They can guide you to better health.

This calculator is not intended to use without the guidance of your diabetes management team. ​