What is body fat percentage?

What your body fat percentage tells you

Some fat is essential. It stores energy, cushions your organs and works like a hormone-making organ that helps run your metabolism.

Fat sits in two main places:

• just under your skin
• deeper around your organs, called visceral fat

Too much body fat raises your risk of problems like diabetes and heart disease.

Body fat tells you more than the scale does, because two people at the same weight can have very different amounts of muscle and fat.

What moves your body fat percentage

Lose fat slowly with a modest calorie deficit.

Protect your muscle by:

• eating protein at every meal, such as dal, paneer, curd, eggs, chicken or fish
• doing strength exercise a few times a week

Crash diets tend to strip muscle along with fat, which can push the percentage the wrong way. Sleep and steady daily movement matter too.

Home scales that estimate body fat give rough readings, so watch the trend over weeks rather than one number.

Is body fat percentage on a report?

Body fat isn't on a blood report, but body-composition machines at gyms and clinics show it.

Cleveland Clinic notes that healthy levels:

• vary by age and sex
• range roughly between 10% and 35%

Different machines and methods can give quite different readings for the same person.