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What is Body Fat Percentage?
March 3, 2009
Among the health conscious, fat is a taboo that has to be kept away from at all costs. But is it actually so bad? In this post, this is what I intend to take up. Read on to know more.
As much as the poor thing is detested, fat has an important role to play in the bodily functions. Fat is the main form of the body’s energy storage. It is the one that cushions and insulates organs and tissues inside the body. In addition, fat also regulates the body temperature. It is only when it goes beyond a certain level that it begins to spell trouble. In fact, it is the perfect example of the adage, “anything in excess is bad.”
I am sure that the term total body fat percentage needs no introduction. But for those who are hearing it for the first time, let me define it. A person’s total body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat his/her body contains. Technically, it is the measure of the amount of fat mass relative to the rest of your body’s organs and tissue mass.
The total body fat percentage includes both the essential fat as well as storage fat. Essential fat is the amount of fat necessary for maintaining life and reproductive functions. This percentage is greater for women than men to meet the demands of childbearing and other hormonal functions. To give you a clearer idea, while the essential fat percentage is just 2-5% in men, it is 10-13% in women. The minimum recommended total body fat percentage is higher than this value. Storage fat, on the other hand, accumulates in the adipose tissue and helps protect the internal organs in the chest and abdomen. It is also used as fuel by the body in times of need.
The value of the total body fat percentage can’t be exactly determined, but can only be estimated. There are various techniques like near-infrared interactance, body average density measurement, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and anthropometric methods to do this. I have already taken up the bioelectrical impedance analysis, the others, I promise to take up in future posts.
So friends, in future before you decide on losing weight, chalk out a realistic weight loss goal by knowing your body fat percentage.
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