Education Center: Understanding Body Composition

Everybody is part fat and part muscle. The lower the percentage of fat, the healthier (and better looking) you are. No matter what you weigh. Our Body fat Composition Analysis includes the measurement of your body fat percentage, so we can map out an effective way for you to lose the fat...and keep it off.

Body Composition Analysis

The need for body composition analysis resulted from the apparent inappropriateness of height/weight tables in assessing health status for athletes. Referring to standardized height/weight charts for "ideal" bodyweight is often misleading. For example, a football player who is heavily muscled, yet very lean will be categorized as "over fat," while individuals with very little muscle mass but elevated proportions of fat are often classified as "normal" or "under fat."

Basically, body composition is the relative amount of fat and fat-free body tissues in the body, typically expressed in terms of percent body fat. Fat-free body mass (FFB) consists of fat-free muscle, bone, and organs. Body composition analysis appears to be a better indicator of health status regardless of an individual's weight.

There are several field methods currently being used to determine the ration of fat to FFB in the body. The most common, practical, and least expensive method is the "Skin fold Assessment," which is often used to screen a large number of individuals in a time-efficient manner. However, technology has progressed to include the Futrex Near Infrared Light Method and the Bioelectric Impedance Technique.

NutritionRx™ Recommended Body Fat Composition

At NutritionRx™, the recommended range for body fat for "optimal health" is 12-20% for adult men and 18-25% for adult women (table1). These numbers are subject to individual variation.

Body Fat Content

Essential Fat: Men (2-5%) Women (5-10%)
Optimal Health: Men (12-20%) Women (18-25%)
At Risk: Men (Greater than 25%) Women (Greater than 30%)

Is Your Body Fat Composition Too High?

Americans typically gain about a pound a year after age of 25. In addition, our sedentary lifestyle contributes to the yearly loss of about one-half pound of lean body weight (primary muscle) and gains one-half pound of fat. Thus, the average adult acquires about 30 pounds of extra fat over a twenty-year period. "At Risk" is considered to be 25% and 33% body fat or more for men and women respectively. This level of body fat puts an individual at a higher risk for hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes, orthopedic injury, and other chronic diseases.

Is Your Body Fat Composition Too Low?

A certain amount of fat is necessary for normal physiologic functioning. For men, this level of essential fat appears to be 2-5% of total body weight, whereas women have approximately 5-10% essential fat. For women, minimal fat levels have a much greater individual variation.

There may be a critical level of body fat necessary for the normal production and effectiveness of estrogen. There appears to be an increased incidence of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation following menarche for a period of six months or three regular cycles) among women athletes. However, many women under 18% body fat have normal menstrual cycles, and others may become amenorrheic at "normal" percents of body fat. There appears to be a significant correlation between a deficient estrogen level and osteoporosis. This may put the amenorrheic athlete with low estrogen levels potentially at risk for decreased bone density and a greater likelihood of stress fractures doing physical training or osteoporosis fractures than later in life. There are a variety of factors that have been proposed as potential mechanisms of athletic amenorrhea than body composition, including psychological stress, training regimen, nutrition, and heredity.