- The national obsession with body fat percentages is directly proportional to the obesity crisis in the United States. Visible body fat is seen in soft adipose deposits, such as those found around the belly, thighs and buttocks. Weight-loss programs involve reducing body fat, not just weight. Body weight is determined by measuring your overall weight composition (body fat and muscle). Muscle is more densely packed than body fat, occupies less physical space and actually weighs more. Adipose, or body fat, is softer, expandable and takes up more physical space. The body requires a certain amount of body fat for healthful functioning, including staying warm and carrying a child to term.
- Body fat serves several functions within the body. Fat is stored energy: If the body were a car, fat would be the battery. Energy obtained from food is stored in fat cells for later use. Biologically, the body is programmed to survive famine. In the days when hunting and gathering could mean the difference between eating and starving, the body learned how to store all excess energy to use when food became scarce. This is why people who live in colder climates, for example, tend to have more body fat than those who live in tropical climates.
- The amount of acceptable body fat varies from individual to individual. According to the U.S. Department of Health, the recommended amount of body fat for women is 20 to 25 percent. That means that, in a woman who weighs 150 lbs., 30 to 37 lbs. of her weight is body fat. In men, the average recommended amount is 8 to 14 percent. The recommended percentage of body fat significantly lower for men than for women, due to a woman's ability to carry children. Body fat provides an internal cushion for a woman's organs as the fetus develops. This use of body fat is why it tends to linger around the midsection of a woman, particularly after she gives birth.
- The U.S. Department of Health has offered the following numbers for categorizing body fat percentage as healthy or unhealthy. Women with more than 30 percent body fat are considered obese; the threshold for men is 25 percent. Athletes typically have a lower body fat percentage: For women, it should be between 16 and 20 percent, and for men, between 6 and 13 percent. The acceptable ranges for healthy, average adults are 25 to 31 percent for women and 18 to 25 percent for men.
- Understanding the purpose of body fat and why the body stores it can help individuals achieve their fitness goals. The body requires a minimum of between 1,000 and1,200 calories of energy per day. Starvation diets are ineffective because it takes energy to burn fat, and muscle burns more quickly. If the body goes into starvation mode, it will burn muscle mass for excess calories prior to burning fat. It will hang onto the fat in order to prolong life. A balanced diet and regular exercise will burn fat more efficiently and prevent additional fat storage.
