Body Fat Percentage Information

Body fat percentage is one method for evaluating body composition. Body fat percentage indicates how much of a person's body mass consists of fat cells. For example, the body of a 200 lb. person with 20 percent body fat is made of 40 lbs. of fat. There are many different way to measure body fat percentage and the guidelines for what a body fat percentage people should maintain differs according to both sex and activity level.

Body Fat Percentages for Women

The American Council on Exercise publishes details on body fat percentage broken down into five different categories. These categories are: essential, athletes, fitness, acceptable and obesity. Across all categories women need to maintain a higher body fat percentage than men do. According to ACE, women need to maintain at least 10 to 13 percent body fat to maintain health. Athletes should be within 14 to 20 percent body fat and those with a 21 to 24 percent body fat are considered to be in the fitness group. A woman with 25 to 31 percent body fat is in the acceptable range. Body fat percentages higher than 31 percent is in the obese category.

Body Fat Percentages for Men

The categories for men are the same as those for women. For men, 2 to 5 percent body fat is considered essential. Those in the athlete category register 6 to 13 percent body fat and 14 to 17 percent is the fitness range. Acceptable body fat percentage for men is 18 to 24 percent. For men the obesity category begins at 25 percent body fat.

Measuring with Calipers

Skinfold caliper measurement is one of the most common ways to measure body fat. In this method, the caliper measures the skin thickness at a standardized set of places on the body. The measurements are used in a formula to calculate body fat percentage. This method has a 3.5 percent standard error.

Measuring with Hydrostatic Weighing

Hydrostatic weighing is a more accurate body fat percentage measure. In this method the person is placed in a chamber and submerged under water. Based on the amount of water displaced, once the person is submerged, it is possible to calculate body fat percentage accurately. The American College of Sports Medicine lists the standard error at less than 2 percent. This method is more time consuming and not commonly available to most people.

Significance

Someone in the obese category is at a greater risk for negative health consequences compared to those people in the other categories. The National Institutes of Health issues a guide to help people better understand how obesity affects health and the best way to combat this growing trend. According to the NIH, obesity increases the likelihood of diseases, such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and stroke. Obesity is potentially damaging to health and one of the reasons people should evaluate their body composition through methods such as measuring body fat percentage.