Your body composition is another
assessment tool you can use to determine the state of your health. Like
the body mass index, or BMI, your body fat composition is an estimate.
You are likely to see the physical manifestation of your body fat on
your waistline. Abdominal fat is especially dangerous from a health
perspective. It puts added pressure on your heart because of weight gain
and increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Body Fat Composition
Online
health sites, such as Health Central, provide calculators for
estimating your pounds of body fat. You will need to know your current
weight and height as well as measurements for your hips, calves, thighs
and wrists. The calculator will give you the percent of body fat. Take
this figure and multiply it by your weight. For example, if you are 160
pounds with 10 percent body fat, your pounds of fat will be 16 pounds,
with 144 pounds of lean body mass. The normal range for women is between
10 percent and 31 percent, with 21 percent to 24 percent indicating a
person in good physical fitness, according to the American Council on
Exercise.
Source: Tiffany Wright, MD, LiveStrong.com
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