Healthy Amount of Body Fat (Adipose Tissue)
& Ratio to Lean Muscle Tissue
Body Fat Percentage
Body Fat Percentage - Definition
Body fat percentage is the amount of adipose
(fat) tissue in your body as a percentage of total body weight. If your
total body weight is 140 pounds and you have 28 pounds of fat, your body
fat percentage is 20 percent.
Why Body Fat Percentage is Important
There are two reasons why the percentage
of body fat or adipose tissue is important with regard to weight. First,
the higher your percentage of fat above average levels, the higher your
health risk for weight-related illness, like heart disease, high blood
pressure, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers.
Second, the more fat you have in your body (and thus the less lean body
tissue or muscle you have) the less calories you need to maintain your
weight.
Body Fat Percentage - American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition
In September 2000, the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition published a study showing that body-fat percentage
may be a better measure of your risk of weight-related diseases than BMI.
Steven Heymsfield, MD, director of the Obesity Research Center at St.
Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York, and his colleagues evaluated more
than 1,600 people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Researchers took body-fat
measurements and studied how their body fat related to disease risk.
"Many studies have related BMI to
disease risk," noted Heymsfield. "What we did was correlate
body-fat percentage to BMI, allowing us to take the first big step toward
linking body-fat percentage to disease risk. This new research reveals
the value of assessing body fat more directly using the latest scientific
technology to measure body-fat percentage," he added.
"If we think of BMI being a rough
measure of body fatness, there are people - especially some highly trained
athletes - who are overweight but not overfat," says Heymsfield.
"Likewise, there are people who are of a normal weight according
to BMI scales but who are overfat. BMI is a broad, general measure of
risk. Body-fat assessment is much more specific to your actual fat content
and thus provides a more accurate picture."
Body Fat Percentage in Average Women and
Men
Men carry less body fat than women. Body
fat percentage in an average healthy woman is about 17-27 percent. In
a similar man, the average body fat percentage is 10-20 percent.
Body Fat Percentage in Fit People
The more lean tissue (muscle) a body has,
the lower the body fat percentage. Athletes or very fit people typically
have significantly lower body fat. For example, body fat percentages of
about 20 percent for fit women, and 10 percent for fit men are quite usual.
Male marathon runners have been found to have body fat percentage as low
as 3.3 percent and female Olympic swimmers have been found to have body
fat percentage as low as 14.5 percent.
Body Fat Percentage Generally Increases
with Weight Gain
Although muscular athletes or weight-lifting
enthusiasts may decrease their body fat percentage when they gain weight,
(because their gain in weight is from adding extra muscle to their body),
for most of us weight-gain equals fat-gain. Our body fat increases while
our lean tissue or muscle remains fairly constant. So for most people,
their body fat percentage increases with every pound of weight gained.
How to Measure Body Fat Percentage
Measuring body fat percentage isn't necessary
for most people. Calculating Body Mass Index (BMI) or waist measurement
is usually quite sufficient. However, if you wish to measure your body
fat, a professional body fat monitor or a scales with a built in body
fat calculator should do the trick. For guidelines about normal body fat
percentages, see below.
Body Fat Percentage and Weight Loss Diet
In general, whenever you lose weight by
dieting you lose body fat. And even though you also lose some lean tissue
(muscle), you lose a lot more fat. So your body fat percentage will reduce.
Body Fat Percentage and Weight Cycling
(Yo-Yo Dieting)
Weight cycling or yo-yo dieting is when
we are constantly losing and regaining weight on a succession of dietary
regimes. This does tend to increase our body fat percentage. Point is,
when we lose weight we also lose some muscle, but when we regain the weight
this muscle is not replaced. Result? We have increased our fat and decreased
our muscle thus raising our body fat percentage. This means we need fewer
calories for our normal routine, and weight gain becomes even easier.
This is why it is so important to exercise when dieting, in order to prevent
muscle loss.
Body Fat Percentage - Conclusion
Unless you are an athlete or fitness enthusiast
and are worried by your higher than average BMI, you don't need to concern
yourself with your body fat percentage. Simply check your BMI or waist
measurement. These two calculations are quite sufficient to calculate
your weight status and whether or not you are overweight. Indeed, a simple
glance in the mirror should tell you if you are overweight and how much
fat you need to lose. Knowing your exact body fat percentage may be information
overload!
Healthy/ Normal Body Fat Percentage
A certain amount of fat is essential for
energy reserves, bodily functions and body protection. Fat regulates body
temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main
form of the body's energy storage. At present there is no clear consensus
on what is a healthy body fat percentage. Here are three tables illustrating
differing guidelines for healthy or normal body fat percentages. |
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