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Body Fat Calculator

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Gender male female

Age 39

Weight 71,1 kg

Height 168 cm

Neck 35 cm

Waist 83 cm

Hip 101 cm

Calculate Clear

Related
BMI Calculator | Calorie Calculator |

Ideal Weight Calculator

Reference

The American Council on Exercise Body Fat

Categorization
Description Women Men
Essential fat 10-13% 2-5%
Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Average 25-31% 18-24%
Obese 32+% 25+%

Jackson & Pollard Ideal Body Fat Percentages

Age Women Men
20 17.7% 8.5%
25 18.4% 10.5%
30 19.3% 12.7%
35 21.5% 13.7%
40 22.2% 15.3%
45 22.9% 16.4%
50 25.2% 18.9%
55 26.3% 20.9%

Body Fat, Overweight, and Obesity

The scientific term for body fat is "adipose tissue."

Adipose tissue serves a number of important
functions. Its primary purpose is to store lipids from
which the body creates energy. In addition, it
secretes a number of important hormones, and
provides the body with some cushioning as well as
insulation.
Body fat includes essential body fat and storage
body fat. Essential body fat is a base level of fat
that is found in most parts of the body. It is
necessary fat that maintains life and reproductive
functions. The amount of essential fat differs
between men and women, and is typically around
2-5% in men, and 10-13% in women. The healthy
range of body fat for men is typically defined as 8-
19%, while the healthy range for women is 21-33%.
While having excess body fat can have many
detrimental effects on a person's health, insufficient
body fat can have negative health effects of its
own, and maintaining a body fat percentage below,
or even at the essential body fat percentage range
is a topic that should be discussed with a medical
professional.
Storage fat is fat that accumulates in adipose
tissue, be it subcutaneous fat (deep under the
dermis and wrapped around vital organs) or
visceral fat (fat located inside the abdominal cavity,
between organs), and references to body fat
typically refer to this type of fat. While some
storage fat is ideal, excess amounts of storage fat
can have serious negative health implications.
Excess body fat leads to the condition of being
overweight and eventually to obesity given that
insufficient measures are taken to curb increasing
body fat. Note that being overweight does not
necessarily indicate an excess of body fat. A
person's body weight is comprised of multiple
factors including (but not limited to) body fat,
muscle, bone density, and water content. Thus,
highly muscular people are often classified as
overweight.
The rate at which body fat accumulates is different
from person to person and is dependent on many
factors including genetic factors as well as
behavioral factors such as lack of exercise and
excessive food intake. Due to varying factors, it can
be more difficult for certain people to reduce body
fat stored in the abdominal region. However,
managing diet and exercise has been shown to
reduce stored fat. Note that both women and men
store body fat differently and that this can change
over time. After the age of 40 (or after menopause
in some cases for women), reduced sexual
hormones can lead to excess body fat around the
stomach in men, or around the buttocks and thighs
of women.

Potential Complications of Excess Body

Fat

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies

obesity as one of the leading preventable causes of
death worldwide that is estimated to claim 111,909
to 365,000 deaths per year in the U.S. This has
been a growing cause for concern because 36.5%
of U.S. adults are defined as obese according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Obesity is associated with a reduction in quality of
life, poorer mental health outcomes, obstructive
sleep apnea, as well as multiple leading causes of
death worldwide such as cardiovascular disease,
stroke, certain cancers and diabetes. All of these
potential complications have the ability to reduce a
person's life expectancy, and as such, obesity is a
medical condition that is studied by many
researchers.
As previously mentioned, fat produces a number of
essential hormones that affect a person's body. An
excess or a lack of critical hormones can have
negative effects that preclude proper body function.
On a related note, studies have found that excess
body fat, particularly abdominal fat, disrupts the
normal balance and function of some of these
hormones. Furthermore, body fat, specifically
visceral fat, has a role in the release of specific
cytokines, which are a broad category of proteins
involved in cell signaling, that can potentially
increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Visceral fat is also directly associated with higher
levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol,
lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol,
and insulin resistance. LDL cholesterol is
commonly referred to as "bad cholesterol" while
HDL is referred to as "good cholesterol." High
levels of LDL cholesterol can clog arteries and lead
to complications including heart attacks. Insulin
resistance involves cells not properly responding to
the hormone insulin, which can lead to high blood
sugar levels, and eventually to type 2 diabetes. As
can be seen, excess visceral fat can have
measurable negative impacts to a person's health.

Measuring Body Fat Percentage

U.S. Navy Method:

There are many specific techniques used for
measuring body fat. The calculator above uses a
method involving equations developed at the Naval
Health Research Center by Hodgdon and Beckett
in 1984. The method for measuring the relevant
body parts as well as the specific equations used
are provided below:

Measure the circumference of the subject's

waist at a horizontal level around the navel for
men, and at the level with the smallest width
for women. Ensure that the subject does not
pull their stomach inwards to obtain accurate
measurements.
Measure the circumference of the subject's
neck starting below the larynx, with the tape
sloping downward to the front. The subject
should avoid flaring their neck outwards.
For women only: Measure the
circumference of the subject's hips at the
largest horizontal measure.

Once these measurements are obtained, use the

following formulas to calculate an estimate of body
fat. Two equations are provided, one using the U.S.
customary system (USC), which uses inches, and
the other using the International System of Units,
specifically the unit of centimeters:
Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for males:
USC Units:
BFP = 86.010×log10(abdomen-neck) -
70.041×log10(height) + 36.76
SI, Metric Units:
495
BFP -
1.0324 - 0.19077×log10(waist-neck) ) +
= 450
0.15456×log10(height)

Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for females:

USC Units:
BFP = 163.205×log10(waist+hip-neck) -
97.684×(log10(height)) - 78.387
SI, Metric Units:
495
BFP -
1.29579 - 0.35004×log10(waist+hip-
= 450
neck) + 0.22100×log10(height)

Note that the results of these calculations are only

an estimate since they are based on many different
assumptions to make them as applicable to as
many people as possible. For more accurate
measurements of body fat, the use of instruments
such as bioelectric impedance analysis or
hydrostatic density testing is necessary.
Fat mass (FM) formula:
FM = BF × Weight
Lean Mass (LM) formula:
LM = Weight - FM

BMI Method:
Another method for calculating an estimate of body
fat percentage uses BMI. Refer to the BMI
Calculator to obtain an estimate of BMI for use with
the BMI method, as well as further detail on how
BMI is calculated, its implications, and its
limitations. Briefly, the estimation of BMI involves
the use of formulas that require the measurement
of a person's height and weight. Given BMI, the
following formulas can be used to estimate a
person's body fat percentage.
Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for adult
males:
BFP = 1.20 × BMI + 0.23 × Age - 16.2
Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for adult
females:
BFP = 1.20 × BMI + 0.23 × Age - 5.4
Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for boys:
BFP = 1.51 × BMI - 0.70 × Age - 2.2
Body fat percentage (BFP) formula for girls:
BFP = 1.51 × BMI - 0.70 × Age + 1.4

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