About Body Fat Percentage Charts
The National Health and Nutrition Examination of 2003 to 2004 found that 66 percent of adults were overweight. The study found 17 percent of children ages 2 to 19 were also overweight.
Body fat percentage charts are one tool doctors use to determine a patient's risk for developing heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. The National Institutes of Health defines a healthy adult as an individual who is height and weight proportionate. Today, body fat percentage charts are not seen as the only ruler to measure healthy body fat. The World Health Organization (WHO) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have designed body fat charts but many physicians use Body Mass Index (BMI) as a way to determine a healthy body fat.
Other People Are Reading
-
Identification
-
According to a study published in the Clinical Journal of Nutrition in 2000, a healthy range for body fat for women ages 20 to 40 years is 21 to 33 percent, with 33 to 39 percent seen as overweight and over 39 percent as obese.
In women ages 41 to 60 years, healthy body fat range is 23 to 35 percent, with 35 to 40 percent seen as overweight and over 40 percent as obese.
In men ages 20 to 40, healthy body fat range is from 8 to 19 percent, with 19 to 25 percent seen as overweight and over 25 percent as obese.
In men ages 41 to 60, a healthy body fat range is 11 to 22 percent, with 22 to 27 percent seen as overweight and over 27 percent as obese.
For men and women, a BMI over 30 generally indicates obesity.
Features
-
The body fat percentage charts were designed based on measurements of the individual's neck, waist and hips and height. These measurements provide a good indication of a person's skeletal size and frame as well as how much body fat he has.
Given these measurements, it is easy to see what the waist measurement is.
The American Cancer Society states that gaining weight in the belly is a more accurate predictor of an individual's risk for developing cancer. It is better to be "pear-shaped"--fat in the hips or legs--rather than "apple-shaped" with excessive fat at the belly. -
Significance
-
Body fat percentage charts are used as a tool to determine whether an individual is at greater risk for developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or sleep apnea.
People with a body fat percent that classifies them as overweight or obese are at much greater risk for developing these life-threatening chronic diseases.
Doctors use these body fat percentages to determine whether a patient must reduce her body fat to reduce their health risks for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Considerations
-
The body fat charts are a general rule of thumb that targets a body fat level at which a person is at risk of heart disease or high blood pressure and other illnesses.
It is possible for a very large athlete to have a high BMI at 30, but this is not the general population.
Doctors use many factors to determine a patient's health: heart rate, blood pressure, body fat, body weight, stress factors and family history of cardiovascular disorders.
A person cannot look solely at one figure on a body fat percentage chart and determine an individual's health.
Misconceptions
-
The greatest misconception is to use the body fat charts as the most important indicator of health and fitness. Many endurance athletes may have a very low body fat percentage, but going below the recommended levels of body fat exposes them to other health risks.
In women athletes with a very low body fat, amenorrhea can occur and fertility may be affected.
In men, very low body fat may mean longer recovery from athletic competitions or a weakened immune system.
It is important to remember that professional athletes with very low body fat train to compete at a certain body fat level, however, they take an off season in which they are likely to be at a higher body fat percentage.
Body fat percentage charts are designed to be one tool to help medical professionals determine risk for chronic diseases. They are not designed to define optimum health and fitness.
-
