What is body fat percentage?

Body fat percentage (BFP) is the proportion of the body's fat mass relative to total body mass (muscle tissue, fat, bone, organs). This can be further split into  essential body fat (also known as non-fat mass) and stored body fat (also known as fat mass).

While having some fat mass is essential for health, excess body fat can increase your risk of developing health problems such as cardiovascular or metabolic diseases. Your healthy body fat percentage range depends on age and gender because men and women have different needs for essential body fat and BFP values tend to increase with age.

Why body fat percentage instead of weight?

BFP can provide a more accurate picture of your health and fitness than weight or BMI (Body Mass Index) alone.

Weight and BMI do not consider body type or distinguish fat from muscle and can misclassify a person and their health risks. For example, an athlete could be deemed overweight according to weight and BMI but in reality, they are healthy with lower fat levels and higher muscle mass for their height, age, and gender.

Tracking body fat percentage over time is a great way to see your health and fitness progress when weight alone can fail to show the progression as you lose fat mass and gain muscle mass.