Measuring Body Fat

New methods are being aggressively marketed, but consumers should be aware of their limitations.

Determining how much you weigh is a simple matter of stepping on the bathroom scale. However; there isn't such an easy one-step method of determining how "fat" you are.

The reading on your scale, of course, is your total weight; it doesn't tell you what percentage of that weight is composed of fat, as opposed to lean body mass (muscle, bone and organs).

It's impossible to measure the amount of body fat on a living person with 100-percent accuracy. Researchers have developed a variety of methods for estimating body-fat content, however.

The two old standbys are underwater weighing and skin-fold measurements. New tests use such high-tech methods as bioelectrical impedance, ultrasound, X-ray and near-infrared spectrophotometry.

Body-fat testing is a growing business. Many health clubs offer it as a free service to new members, and to the general public for a fee, usually between $10 and $30. Coaches and trainers often include it in routine fitness evaluations. At least one popular diet program comes with a set of calipers to measure body fat.

It's important for anyone considering testing to understand the significance, and limitations, of the data it provides. Overemphasizing body fat as a measure of fitness has some ominous potential consequences, especially for women.

Because fat is commonly viewed as "bad," as something to be gotten rid of, many women expect their body-fat percentage to be unrealistically and even dangerously low: Some women are incredulous and dismayed to learn they have more than 20-percent body fat, for instance, though this figure is well within the normal and healthy range.

Is this much fat really healthy and necessary?

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Foreword: Billie Jean King

Comments by Barb Harris
Editor in Chief,
Shape Magazine

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