What Is My Ideal Body Fat Percentage?

No measurement can be relied on for individual health. The best indicator is the manner you treat your body and mind. Although, when it comes to calculation health efficiency of a large group of people in a specific demographic, it is important to measure it with a technique that gives an average health efficiency report. 

There are many ways to do this. One of it is Body Mass Index (BMI). In this technique, your body weight is calculated in comparison with your height. There are many online BMI calculator that help you to find your BMI at the ease of your home. All you need to do is enter your weight and height detail in the BMI calculator. Doctors usually use this measurement over a large demographic to find if they are underweight, ideal weight, overweight or obese.

Another famous technique is Body Fat Percentage. In this technique, your body fat is measured in comparison with your overall body weight. It means how much of your body weight consists of body fat. There are many ways of finding it such as bioelectrical impedance analysis, skin-fold methods, and other methods involving the circumference of different body parts.

Now if you want to calculate you body fat percentage here is the step-by-step procedure: 

1. Know the body fat percentile chart – A certain amount of body fat is necessary for the human body to cushion organs and tissues, regulate body temperature and store energy. Although exceeding the body fat percentage than needed or even having lesser than it can cause risks to your health. It is important to have an ideal fat ratio in the body. Now, this needs to be calculated considering various factors such as body type, heredity, age, sex, etc. It differs in genders as well as women are said to require more body fat as compared to men. Here is a chart that you can follow to know the body fat percentile ranges:

1. Find your weight – Different type of weighing scales will give you different results and this depends on the time of day you weigh. You must aim to obtain the result as accurate as possible. For this, you need to weigh yourself on the same machine for some days at the same time.
2. Calculate your BMS – Calculate your Body Mass Index by dividing your weight by your height squared. Then multiply it by a conversion factor of 703.
3. Compare your BMS with chart – Following the gender-based chart of Body Mass Index percentage, you can find out whether your weight is ideal or not.