![]() Higher levels of body fat also have a stronger association with cardiovascular disease risk and mortality when compared to BMI. Research has found that body fat percentage is a better indicator of obesity-related health conditions such as coronary heart disease risk than waist circumference. ![]() Determining your total body composition takes into account your lean muscle mass, body fat percentage, bone mass, and water weight. This includes direct measurement in a medical setting as well as measurements that can be done at home.įirst, it is important to understand what body fat percentage means. There are a number of ways to determine body fat. An athlete that weighs 180 pounds with 20% body fat and a high amount of lean muscle is much healthier than someone who weighs 180 pounds but is sedentary and has 40% body fat. This makes sense from a practical standpoint. In fact, studies have found that individuals with a normal BMI but a high body fat percentage are at an increased risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. This is because body fat, not just body weight, is associated with chronic health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and even some cancers. However, your percentage of body fat is just as much, if not more important, than body weight alone. Metabolically healthy obesity: Facts and fantasies.Health and body weight are closely tied together. Body mass index: Obesity, BMI, and health: A critical review. Body composition data for individuals 8 years of age and older: U.S. Body fat percentage - Are you at a healthy weight? (n.d.).Body composition information and FAQ's sheet.You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. We link primary sources - including studies, scientific references, and statistics - within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. However, this method does still provide a quick and useful clinical tool to assess health risks. Having a high body fat percentage or BMI does not always lead to health problems. There are many limitations to BMI and measuring body fat. For example, fat around the abdomen has higher health risks than fat in other areas. ![]() The location of body fat is also relevant to overall health. For example, the BMI of a person with high bone density and muscle mass may indicate they have high body fat.Īlso, BMI cannot assess where fat is in the body. These factors are relevant to overall health and assessing body fat. It makes no distinction between lean muscle, body fat percentage, and bone mass. Using BMI to assess body fat or overall health is another issue. This suggests there may be cultural or racial bias with body fat percentage ideals. These differences raise concerns about whether or not ideal body fat percentages are realistic.Īverage body fat percentages also vary across race and ethnicity. Even healthy people can have unusually high body fat. Assessments of body fat consistently show that people have higher body fat percentages than official guidelines recommend. ![]()
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