What is the difference between bmi and percentage body fat

BMI gives a less detailed measurement while body fat percentage gives a more detailed measurement. Hence, this is another difference between BMI and body fat percentage.

One other difference between BMI and body fat percentage is that BMI is the least expensive and easiest way to measure fitness while body fat percentage is difficult to measure. BMI or body mass index is the ratio between the weight and the height of an individual. It helps to distinguish between normal weight, overweight, and obesity. In contrast, body fat percentage is the percentage of the value obtained from the total fat divided by the body weight.

It gives the total amount of fat in the body in comparison to muscle mass. Therefore, the body fat percentage gives a more detailed measurement when compared to BMI. Thus, the main difference between BMI and body fat percentage is the type of measurement and its importance.

Ranasinghe, Chathuranga et al. Scott, Jennifer R. That's a lot of math lingo, but the important part is that Quetelet was not a physician, nor was he studying obesity or health -- he was looking for a way to analyze populations. Quetelet's Index also didn't differentiate between fat and muscle, only taking into account total body mass.

So how did BMI start being used as an indicator of an individual's health? In the s, researcher Ancel Keys conducted a study with more than 7, participants, trying to find the most effective way to measure body fat. After testing body mass index, water displacement and skin calipers, the first of the three was determined to be the best and most cost-effective way to do so. The problem with Keys' study? The participants were all men, and predominantly white.

Nevertheless, in the National Institute of Health changed its definition of obesity to include BMI, saying that it is "a simple measurement highly correlated with other estimates of fatness.

But just because BMI is simple and cost-effective to measure, this doesn't mean that it's accurate for everyone. This is partially because muscle weighs more than fat, so if your body fat percentage is low, but you weigh more than what's average for your height, your BMI could say that you are obese when you aren't.

In one study with thousands of participants, African American women with the same BMIs as white women were found to have better health markers in areas like blood pressure and cholesterol, suggesting that BMI can define black people as "unhealthy" when in reality they aren't.

Other studies echo similar ideas -- a researcher at the University of Tennessee concluded that, "Compared to Caucasians, African Americans of the same age, gender, waist circumference, weight and height may have lower total and abdominal fat mass.

BMI also fails to accurately assess health in Asian people, but in the opposite direction of African Americans. One study that tracked the health of more than 78, women in the US found that Asian Americans were at a higher risk of developing obesity-related illnesses at lower BMIs than their white counterparts.

Now that we've determined that BMI isn't a super accurate way to measure a person's health and risk of disease, we can turn to one measurement that is far more effective: body fat percentage. Body fat percentage has been shown to be an accurate indicator of the risk of osteoporosis with aging , high blood pressure and other cardiometabolic risks , diabetes and increased mortality in general -- all when people's BMIs or weight would indicate they are otherwise healthy.

Everything else is usually referred to as "lean tissue. For women, 10 to 12 percent is essential fat; 14 to 20 percent is in the athlete category; 21 to 24 percent is fit; 25 to 31 percent is acceptable; and 32 percent or more is an indication of obesity. For men, 2 to 4 percent is essential fat; 6 to 13 percent is in the athlete category; 14 to 17 percent is fit; 18 to 25 percent is acceptable; and 25 percent or more is an indication of obesity.

Alice and Melissa are both 5 foot 4 inches and lbs. Alice doesn't work out, and eats junk food. She just controls her junk food portion sizes, and that keeps her scale weight down. Alice has 42 lbs. That would mean that Alice is 30 percent body fat. Melissa does a weight training workout and cardio 3 days per week and eats a healthy diet. Melissa has 28 lbs.

Melissa would be 20 percent body fat. Even though Alice and Melissa both have the same scale weight, they have drastically different looking bodies, and that's reflected in their body fat percentages being at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Over half of Americans have normal BMI, or normal scale weight, and high body fat percentage, according to research reported in Researchers are now calling this normal weight obesity and report that it's just as unhealthy as having a high scale weight.

Instead of say normal weight obesity, personal trainers have simply dubbed the condition "skinny fat.