What is My Ideal Body Fat Percentage?
High body fat can increase the risk of diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Having too little body fat can also be dangerous, as it has the potential to affect fertility, immunity, and heart health.
Body fat percentage is the portion of your body weight that consists of fat. It consists of body fat storage and essential body fat.
There are several ways to calculate your body fat percentage, including bioelectrical impedance analysis, the skinfolding method, other anthropometric methods, and methods that involve circumference of various parts of the body.
Several factors play a role in shaping the composition of a woman's body fat, including: diet, genetics, fitness level, and activity level.
When evaluating ideal body fat, it's important to remember that it's not just high levels of fat that are a risk, but also levels that are too low.
The optimal level of body fat is not always lowest, and it varies among different women.
What is a Healthy Body Fat Percentage?
Of course it all depends on factors such as: height, gender, and genetics, which all play a role.
There is no uniform standard for measuring body fat: The NHS has preferred to focus on BMI.
The body fat percentage tables below for men and women from the American Council on Exercise are a solid, often-cited reference.
You can expect to move to higher areas of your reach as you age. In the end, though, you shouldn't rely solely on body fat percentage to gauge your health. Combine these with your BMI score and waist-to-height ratio, both described below, to see if you are a healthy weight.
Men Women
Essential Fat 2%-5% 10%-13%
Athletes 6%-13% 14%-20%
Fitness 14%-17% 21%-24%
Average 18%-24% 25%-31%
Obese 25% and higher 32% and higher
Rating 20-39 Years 40-59 Years 60-79 Years
Low < 8% < 11% < 13%
Healthy 8-20% 11-22% 13-25%
Raised 20-25% 22-28% 25-30%
High > 25% > 28% > 30%
Why do Female have a Higher Percentage of Body Fat?
Women need a higher fat percentage than men for a healthy body, as you can see in the table above.
The reasons women need more fat are the following:
Women need fat for ovulation and for protection of the uterus. Breast tissue is made up mostly of fat. In men, the primary fat is stored in the abdomen. Belly fat is the bad fat and therefore the lower fat percentage for men applies.
Body fat is consist of storage fat and essential body fat. Essential body fat is found in the bone marrow, nervous tissue, and organs, and you cannot get rid of this fat without compromising physiological function.
Fat storage is an energy reserve that accumulates when excess energy is digested and diminishes when more energy is expended than consumed.
Essential body fat is approximately 12% of body mass for women. Women are believed to have more essential body fat than men, due to hormonal functioning and childbearing.
In general, the total body fat (essential plus storage fat) percentage is between 25% and 28% for young women.
To calculate your body fat percentage, add up your waist and hip measurements, then subtract your neck measurement to determine your circumference. For example, if your waist is 30, your hips are 36, and your neck is 13, your circumference value will be 53.
BMI calculations are based solely on your height and weight, being a woman or a boy does not take into account how the number is calculated. In terms of body fat percentage range, there is a difference between women and men.
Body fat percentage for women falls into a few different categories. Some charts will break down percentages by category, such as athlete and acceptable range, while others will break down ranges by age.
How to Calculate Ideal Body Fat
You should note down your neck, hip and waist measurements. Measure every area of your body at its widest point.To calculate your body fat percentage, add up your waist and hip measurements, then subtract your neck measurement to determine your circumference. For example, if your waist is 30, your hips are 36, and your neck is 13, your circumference value will be 53.
BMI calculations are based solely on your height and weight, being a woman or a boy does not take into account how the number is calculated. In terms of body fat percentage range, there is a difference between women and men.
Body fat percentage for women falls into a few different categories. Some charts will break down percentages by category, such as athlete and acceptable range, while others will break down ranges by age.
What is the Ideal Body Fat Percentage for a Woman?
Most women who exercise regularly and are in good shape fall within the “healthy” range of body fat.Women ages 19 to 29 whose body fat is between 19 and 22% are in the healthy range. This includes women ages 30 to 39 with between 20 and 24% body fat.
Women in their 40s with body fat between 23% and 27%, and women age 50 and over with 27 to 31% body fat are in the healthy range of body fat.
When the tape is placed on the skin, the tape should touch but not press against the skin in any way.
Take all the measurements twice and average them. Then notice the nearest half inch.
Accuracy
There is plenty of room for error when measuring yourself. Things like clothing, what you eat, and how tightly you pull on the measuring tape can also affect your results.
Classification of Body Fat Percentage for Women
Under 15%: Low Body Fat Risk.
15%-18%: Ultra Lean.
18%-22%: Lean.
22%-30%: Moderately Lean.30%-40%: Excess Fat.
Above 40%: High Body Fat Risk
What is the Ideal Weight Range for Women?
The ideal body weight is when a person is in the most fit and healthy condition in terms of body weight.
There are different ways to calculate the ideal weight range:
BMI
BMI is the most commonly used system to calculate the ideal weight range, because it is relatively easy to work with. Someone can find out their BMI by applying their height and weight to the following formula:
- Your body weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters.
- Dividing answers by height again.
For people who are more used to using imperial measurements, there are a variety of calculators online for calculating BMI scores.
BMI is calculated the same for men and women, and BMI appears to correlate fairly well with a person's body fat percentage.
One study also criticized BMI for underestimating the prevalence of obesity in both sexes, becoming less accurate as women age.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, BMI ranges are as follows:
Overweight 25–29.9
Obesity 30 or greater
Normal weight 18.5–24.9
Underweight Less than 18.5
It’s All Relative
Healthy body fat percentage is relative; a percentage that's healthy for a 20 year old might be very dangerous for a 60 year old. Factors such as gender, physical activity, body type, heredity and age all play a role in determining an appropriate body fat percentage. For example, women have a higher percentage of body fat than men because women need more body fat.
It's a common mistake to think that body fat is bad by nature.
If your goal is to lose body fat, then you need to rethink your end game! Some body fat is necessary to promote proper body functions such as storing energy and regulating temperature. Draw a line between what is necessary and what is not to be done carefully.
When to See a Doctor
Summary
Tracking your body fat percentage is one way to measure your progress when trying to lose weight, or increase lean muscle mass. But that isn't the story of your overall health. Healthy eating and being active is the time you need to focus your energies.
If you have questions or concerns about your BMI or body fat percentage, consider talking with your doctor, a registered dietitian. or a certified personal coach. They can help you understand your personal results, and work with you to design a plan that works for your needs.
Summary
Eating healthy and eating within your calorie limit is important when trying to maintain a certain body fat percentage. Apart from that, resistance training and cardiovascular exercise are also important in maintaining or achieving a good and ideal body fat percentage.
