Varying Degrees of Body Fat Percentage for Men and Women

When people hear the term “body fat percentage”, they normally associate the term with professional bodybuilders. This is because much ado is made about low body in body building circles. Professionals must have a very low body fat percentage (5% or so) in order to compete. While this raises awareness towards developing low body fat, it also creates a somewhat limited perception. Body fat percentage means different things on different levels. Actually, 5% body fat can cause serious health problems for the average person. Conversely, 25% fat can either be healthy or unhealthy depending upon your age and gender. In order to provide clarity, it's best to look at a scale of body fat percentages and what they represent.

It is important to note the differences between men and women when it comes to determining healthy body fat percentages. Mainly, women are healthier with higher body fat percentages than men. This is because women require higher fat levels for safe pregnancy. As a result, different body fat percentages will be provided with the same health assessment for both genders.

For women between age 20 and 40, 19% to 26% body fat is generally good to excellent. For women age 40+ to 60+, 23% to 30% is considered good to excellent.

For men between age 20 and 40, 10% to 20% body fat is generally good to excellent. For men age 40+ to 60+, 19% to 23% is considered good to excellent.

If the body fat percentages for both age groups are higher than the highest listed healthy percentage or lower than the lowest healthy percentage, the result may be considered fair or poor. As such, seeking a proper adjustment is necessary.

In order to ascertain your body fat percentage, you need something to figure it out. If you want a generally idea of what your body fat percentage is, an online calculator can be helpful. By providing the calculator with information about age, weight, gender, the calculator can provide general information on body fat percentage.

More body fat information can be found here.