Do not immediately feel happy if it turns out your weight on the scales including the ideal. In addition to measuring weight, we also need to know your body fat composition is very important to determine the health and appearance.
Body fat has a negative connotation, but in the right proportion of fat is an essential part of the diet and health.
In the days of our ancestors, their ability to store extra body fat a big impact on the survival of the current famine, when food is scarce or the game.
Even in the present fat is also necessary for the functioning of the body, maintaining body heat and protect the organs from trauma. In women, body fat is also needed to support the function of fertility and hormonal systems.
The problem is when our body fat deviate too much. This will provoke a variety of health problems, ranging from high cholesterol, hypertension, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance through. Even more dangerous if the fat accumulated in the waist or hips.
"Body fat in men is normally about 8-15 percent of total body weight, while in women between 20-30 percent," said Caroline Apovian, director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Boston Medical Center.
Of note, the excess fat composition did not always occur in those whose weight is excessive. This means, people whose weight is normal, or even quite thin too, can have high body fat.
Measurement
Actually there is some way of measuring body fat. According to Mary M.Flynn, researchers in the field of nutrition, the most accurate measure under the water, to see a person's weight while on land and under water. "But the equipment was very expensive and not widely available," he said.
Another way that is accurate enough Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA). Measurement tool contains electrodes that are placed in the hands and feet while the current is passed through the body. Usually in the fitness center or hospital there this tool.
The simplest method is to measure waist circumference and body mass index to determine. Waist circumference greater than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men should be wary of.
Even so, the calculation of body mass index can not be an indicator of body fat, especially in athletes and bodybuilders. Children under 18 years are also not appropriate when measured using the body mass index.
Another way to determine body fat is used to measure the skin-term kind of fat in specific places in the body. But it is more vulnerable to wrong way.