Some charts will divide the percentages by categories, such as athletes and acceptable ranges, while others divide the ranges by age. For ideal body fat percentages based on age, Beth Israel Lahey Health Winchester Hospital gives the following guidelines for a healthy body fat percentage for women:.

In general, men have a lower body fat to lean tissue ratio than women, which explains the differences in the ranges. Reproduction plays a role in the higher body fat percentages for women.

For ideal body fat percentages based on age, Beth Israel Lahey Health Winchester Hospital gives the following guidelines for a healthy body fat percentage for men:. BMI is a numerical value of your weight in relation to your height, according to the American Heart Association.

Each of these categories then corresponds to the following BMI ranges, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC :. There are several BMI calculators online. For example, this BMI calculator from the CDC is appropriate for adults 20 years and older.

If you think of BMI and body fat measurements as one tool you have available to help you track your progress, you may be less likely to get fixated on the results. In other words, rather than being driven by reducing a particular number, you can be motivated to enhance your health by fueling your body with nourishing foods and taking steps to include some form of exercise into your daily routine.

Having this mindset can make it easier to understand and accept the issues and limitations that come with BMI and body fat percentages. For example, a muscular athlete may have a higher BMI because of extra lean mass and, consequently, could be categorized as overweight or obese.

Whereas someone with a lower weight and a much higher body fat to lean mass ratio could fall under the normal to healthy range.

Body fat percentages, on the other hand, also have issues and limitations. Eating healthy and being active is where you need to focus your energy.

If you have any questions or concerns about your BMI or body fat percentage, consider talking with your doctor, a certified personal trainer, or registered dietitian. They can help you understand your individual results and work with you to design a plan that fits your needs.

There are several ways to find a certified personal trainer or registered dietitian in your area. First, call around to the local gyms and ask about the credentials of their trainers.

You want to look for trainers with certifications such as:. Bonus if they have a college degree in exercise science, kinesiology, or sports medicine. You can also locate trainers through the websites of the certifying bodies.

For example, ACE has a section on their website that allows you to search for trainers in your area. If you want to work with a dietitian, the most important credential to look for after their name is RD, which stands for registered dietitian. Many RDs will also have several other credentials that indicate further training and expertise.

Similar to ACE, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a tool that allows you to search for a registered dietitian nutritionist. BMI and body fat measurements are two methods you can use to assess your body weight and composition. Eating nourishing foods, staying hydrated, exercising, and caring for your mental and spiritual health all play a critical role in shaping your journey to better health.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

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Medically reviewed by Elaine K. Luo, M. How to calculate For women For men BMI calculator Issues with calculations When to talk with a pro Takeaway.

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The NHS uses BMI body mass index , which requires no special tools or tech to calculate. Working it out is simple: just divide your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. As you've likely heard, BMI is not a perfect measure — for example, it fails to account for muscle mass, which, of course, body fat percentage does.

However, unless professionally done, body fat percentage measures are pretty inaccurate sorry, fancy scale at your gym. Overall measures of body fat also usually don't pinpoint where on the body excess fit sits. Is there a way to calculate your own body fat percentage? There are several — many of which can be done at home and without eye-watering costs.

But there's always a but, isn't there? as previously mentioned, you're not going to have an exact figure without the help of medical professionals and a stint in a lab.

Here are some of the options available. If you're happy with a rough estimate, then, luckily for you, maths is here to help. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition uses the following equations to predict body fat percentages:.

For women: 1. As such, say you were a 5ft, 4-inch year-old woman who weighs pounds — you would have a BMI of This rather old-school — and uncomfortable — method of body fat measurement involves using calipers to pinch the fat on certain areas of the body triceps, chest, quad, waist, etc.

and measuring the skinfold. The caliper method can be useful in identifying where you may be carrying excess body fat, as a precursor to diagnosing certain conditions. For example, the amount of fat we carry around our waist can increase our risk of serious health ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, strokes and high blood pressure.

Still, you'll need an expert to help you with this one. Even then, there's a risk of human error. While they're not as cheap as your average bathroom scales , there are plenty of smart scales on the market that provide weight readings, as well as your body fat, muscle mass, water and bone density.

Prices range from about £30 upwards, and while accuracy may vary, it may be helpful to use the readings as a benchmark, if you're looking to increase or decrease body fat.

Another fairly accessible option is body composition measuring machines, such as DEXA and other 3D scanners. These contraptions work using something called bioelectrical impedance analysis, the rate at which an electrical current can travel through your body.

Unlike smart scales, these bulky, costly machines aren't exactly the kind of thing you'll buy for the corner of your bathroom. Luckily, most national gym chains, such as David Lloyd , F45 and Virgin Active will have their own available to members. We've reached the options that lab-level accuracy and a cost.

Air displacement plethysmography is a rather fancy, specialised test, involving a rather well-named machine called the BodPod. It will require you to hang out in an egg-shaped chamber for a few minutes, where experts will determine how much air your body displaces.

Several universities and research facilities in the UK, including the University of Westminster and the British College of Osteopath Medicine , have BodPods and offer assessments to the public, usually for around £ Try saying that five times fast.

Hydrodensitometry, or underwater weighing, is considered the gold standard in body fat measurement. It involves being completely submerged in water, and measuring how much of the water is displaced.

Some super-simplified science: bone and muscle have a greater density than water, so someone with a larger percentage of fat-free mass will actually weigh more in water. On the other hand, someone with more body fat mass will be lighter in the water. Unfortunately, this is not something you can do at your local lido — you'll need to go to a special facility for a test like this, and it's less readily available in the UK than air displacement plethysmography.

What's up with that? Well, it's probably to do with your body priming you to make babies. The hormone oestrogen has been shown to reduce your ability to burn energy after eating — which translates to more fat being stored around the body. As you get past 40, your ideal body fat percentage might get higher.

Also, there are more important metrics to consider. Eight per cent is usually the fat essential for your body to work — and may severely compromise your health.

Many factors influence your body fat percentage, including sex, age, fitness level, and lifestyle. The body fat percentage ranges come from the American Council on Exercise ACE.

Athletes tend to have a lower body fat percentage than people who are physically fit because having less fat improves their athletic performance. However, when body fat percentages dip too low, athletic performance suffers and immune function declines.

Body composition and body mass index BMI are tools that assess body fatness. However, the methods used to measure body composition and BMI differ. Additionally, BMI may not provide accurate results in all situations. Despite being a flawed measure , BMI is widely used today in the medical community because it is an inexpensive and quick method for analyzing potential health status and outcomes.

BMI is a tool that has been used by health professionals to assess body fatness and health. This BMI table is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. There are a number of ways to measure body composition.

However, you need more than a bathroom scale and calculator to figure out what percentage of your weight comes from fat and what percentage comes from muscle. A smart scale can help you monitor various key metrics.

Muscles have a lower resistance to an electric current than fat. Skinfold measurements involve the use of special calipers that measure the skinfold—subcutaneous fat—on different parts of your body. The DEXA scan, or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, uses a low-level X-ray to measure bone, muscle, and body fat.

Hydrostatic weighing involves full submersion in a water tank, using water displacement to measure body composition. Since fat floats and muscle sinks, a person with more lean body mass weighs more underwater. Bod pod is similar to hydrostatic weighing, but uses air displacement instead of water displacement to measure body composition.

For this test, you sit in an egg-shaped chamber, which uses your body weight and volume to determine your body composition. Body composition provides valuable information about body fat percentage.

However, your body shape is unique to you and there are uncontrollable factors that affect your body composition including:.

To change your body composition, you need the right balance of physical activity and nutrition to reach your goals. Slow and steady changes work best when you want to increase muscle and lose fat.

It's important to remember that some factors will remain out of your control. Before making any changes to your diet or workout routine, consult with your primary care provider or a registered dietitian for guidance. Your body composition may help you better understand your current level of health and fitness.

It can also serve as a measuring tool to monitor progress when starting a new fitness or wellness program. Seek advice from a health care professional before making any major changes to your diet or exercise routine.

The three somatotypes include ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs. These body types are determined by your genetics.

A person with an ectomorph body type has very little body fat and muscle and struggles to gain weight. Someone with an endomorph body type, on the other hand, has a high percentage of body fat and muscle and has no problems gaining weight.

Mesomorphs have an athletic build and can gain and lose weight easily. The 4-component model of body composition measures body fat, water, mineral, and protein content to assess body composition. By comparison, the traditional 2-component model only uses fat mass and fat-free mass to assess body composition.

Body fat percentages that measure higher than that range classify someone with obesity. University of California at Davis. Sports Medicine. Body composition. Mittal B. Indian J Med Res. American Council on Exercise. Percent body fat calculator: skinfold method.

Mehta J, Thompson B, Kling JM. The female athlete triad: It takes a team. Cleve Clin J Med. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About adult BMI. Duren DL, Sherwood RJ, Czerwinski SA, et al. Body composition methods: comparisons and interpretation. The National Institutes of Health NIH offers a free BMI calculator and height- and weight-based BMI chart.

To interpret the final number, a BMI:. Many assessments of body fat show that people have higher body fat percentages than official guidelines recommend.

Individuals can be healthy while also having unusually high body fat. These differences raise concerns about whether ideal body fat percentages are realistic.

Average body fat percentages also vary by race and ethnicity. This suggests there may be cultural or racial biases with ideal body fat percentages. Using BMI to assess body fat or overall health is another issue. BMI only accounts for weight — it makes no distinction between lean muscle, body fat percentage, and bone mass.

These factors are relevant to overall health and assessing body fat. For example, the BMI of a person with high bone density and muscle mass may indicate they have high body fat.

Also, BMI cannot assess where fat is in the body. The location of body fat is also relevant to overall health. For example, fat around the abdomen has higher health risks than fat in other areas. There are many limitations to BMI and measuring body fat.

Having a high body fat percentage or BMI does not always lead to health problems. However, this method does still provide a quick and useful clinical tool to assess health risks. Accurately calculating body fat percentages at home is challenging.

However, BMI calculations or fat calipers can give a rough estimate of body fat levels. Body fat is a useful indicator of overall health. However, there are limitations to its use. Rather than focusing on body fat alone, it is best to prioritize an overall healthy lifestyle.

Exercising more, doing regular strength training, and eating a balanced diet are good ways to maintain health. To find their ideal weight, an individual must look at a number of factors, including gender and activity level.

Learn how to find your healthy weight. There are various ways to measure the percentage of body fat, and some are more high tech than others.

In this article, we describe the range of…. Body fat scales are devices that estimate the relative percentages of fat and muscle inside the body. Read on to learn about how they work and their….

Body fat scales can be an easy way to track body composition, but research debates their accuracy. Figure: a healthy body composition expressed as a ratio of male and female bodies.

Although your body requires a certain amount of body fat to maintain organ functions, a lower body-fat percentage is usually a sign of good health.

That said, charts from the American Council on Exercise may help you to better understand what is a healthy body fat percentage. To know how much muscle mass you should have, it is important to differentiate the 3 types of muscles in the human body: cardiac muscles, smooth muscles, and skeletal muscles.

A research paper on the importance of skeletal muscle strength for healthy aging indicates that muscle mass naturally declines with age, a phenomenon called sarcopenia.

Note: when measured via bioelectrical impedance, "muscle mass" usually includes skeletal muscle, smooth muscle and the water contained in these muscles. Normal ranges for total body water TBW :.

Carrying sufficient muscle mass is necessary for good health, as it helps you burn more calories, builds protection against certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, and improves your overall metabolic rate.

A number of factors can affect your body composition levels, keeping track of your body composition over time—including bone and muscle mass—can help you and your healthcare provider make the right decisions for your health. Among the main factors that influence body composition, we count:.

Furthermore, the increase in fat mass FM is distributed more specifically in the abdominal region, an area associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Body composition changes with aging: The cause or the result of alterations in metabolic rate and macronutrient oxidation? Females naturally have—and need—more body fat than males. In terms of body fat types , they usually carry less visceral fat, but more subcutaneous fat, which is stored around the hips and thighs.

Changes in fat mass typically appear after puberty. Many large-scale studies have identified different types of genetic factor that influence the body fat distribution. Nutrition, especially the amount of calories you are eating, can significantly alter body composition over time and if associated with physical activity.

The importance of proteins is acknowledged for people who wish to gain muscle. The growth hormone or GH is known for increasing energy expenditure. People with metabolic disturbances who suffer from GH deficiencies will have more difficulty in burning calories, which may result in more visceral adiposity.

In women, cortisol, as well as estrogen and progesterone, play an important role in fat distribution. Women with a good hormonal balance will find it easier to control their body composition. In men, studies have shown that lower levels of testosterone are associated with increased body fat.

Exercise is key to achieving a healthy body composition. When you exercise, your muscles will develop: they grow and get stronger. On the other hand, sedentary behavior will accelerate fat deposition and may cause obesity.

Scoring enough sleep can increase your metabolic rate—which is key to burning calories. On the other hand, even if insufficient sleep or irregular sleep patterns plays a major role in the health status of individuals, it is still unclear how poor sleep negatively affects your body composition.

Just like carbohydrates, alcohol suppresses fat oxidation. In other words, it reduces the ability of your body to burn fat for energy.