Body Fat Percentage

Two people can be the exact same height, have the exact same weight, and one can still be healthy while the other is considered fat or unhealthy. How?  It is because of the body fat percentage that they have. Body fat is stored in your body, and was created out of a primal need to prevent starvation. The human body is designed to store fat just like animals do, allowing people to survive without food for much longer than they could otherwise. When you have too much fat, though, it can become a problem. So what is too much, and how do you know?

Body fat is calculated based on the BMI, or Body Mass Index scale. In men, the ideal percentage is 2-5 percent, while it ranges between 10-13 percent for women. When you have fat higher than this in your body, you are considered overweight or obese. Within these categories, it is broken down further to include mild and moderate overweight ratings, as well as mild, moderate, severe, and morbidly obese categories.

Ultimately, any BMI score over a 25 is considered overweight. How is that number calculated? Well, you enter your height and weight into a BMI calculator and you can determine what your BMI is.

There are other ways to measure body fat percentage, although none are completely exact. The most effective way to measure the percentage of fat that you have is through infrared light or x-ray analysis. You might have seen shows on TV that use these methods or even had them done yourself. You can get a glimpse of what your body fat should look like with body scans, and then see also what it actually looks like, allowing you to compare the difference and actually see how it impacts you. Seeing this extra fat on a scan is much more startling to people than just knowing that they are overweight or obese.

There is an amount of fat that your body should keep stored in order to be healthy. However, when that stored fat doubles or triples in size, people become overweight or obese and very unhealthy. In order to avoid this, you should eat right, exercise, and sleep regularly. Managing stress can keep you slim, as well.

Your percentage of fat can be measured through skin measurements and other methods, as well, and every different medical professional or personal trainer will have their own preference for getting an accurate estimate. The percentage of your fat is more important than your BMI, because it calculates things like bone structure and stature, and not just a generalization based on height and weight.