FitSugar

Measure Up: BMI vs. Body Fat Percentage

FitSugar — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:50:59 PDT

BMI and body fat percentage are weight-loss terms thrown around with little explanation, so if you're confused about what they mean or which you should pay more attention to, you're not alone. Here's a brief primer to help.

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It's a simple measure of the weight of a person scaled according to their height. You can use Fit's Calculator to determine your BMI, or follow these steps:

Multiply your weight in pounds by 703.
Divide that answer by your height in inches.
Divide that answer by your height in inches again.

A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Body fat percentage is the weight of a person's fat divided by the person's weight. It lets you see how much of your body is made up of fat, and how much is bone, muscle, blood, and organs. There are several ways to calculate your percentage. Your skin folds can be gently pinched with calipers, some high-tech scales can measure body fat, and there's also underwater weighing. Many people get their body fat percentage measured if they are into sports or trying to measure their progress while losing weight. Fit women should have 21 to 24 percent body fat. Female athletes have between 14 and 20 percent.

To find out which one you should be concerned with

Body fat percentage is a much more accurate measurement in determining if you are healthy. BMI doesn't take into consideration how much of your weight is muscle and bone and how much of it is fat. So that means a person can have a healthy BMI, but still carry weight in their belly, which can increase their risk for heart disease. So if you're trying to lose weight, or just wondering if your current weight is healthy, it's worth seeing someone to have your body fat percentage measured.

BMI Has Gone Awry

FitSugar — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:30:00 PDT

There are many ways to quantify a body. We weigh them. We measure their height and circumference. We determine the body fat composition. We use the Body Mass Index, aka BMI and this generic formula has been catching some flack lately.

This measurement is an unfortunately simplistic approach to measuring health. BMI is a mathematical formula that scales a person's weight to their height. The index also includes a range for optimal weights. The numbers below this range are considered underweight and the figures above the optimal range are considered overweight and obese. You might type in your stats, learn your BMI, and be appalled at your number.

If this has happened to you, you are not alone. Jezebel feels the same way and found a photo collection of women to help us all understand visually why BMI has gone awry. Kate Harding has put together a photo collection of women (you need to check it out!). Their stats are listed: weight, height and BMI. You will be surprised by the women that are considered overweight and obese. So take heart if you feel at odds with your BMI, there are other women out there who look like you and me!

Which is Better: BMI or Body Fat Percentage?

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 07:30:00 PST

Many people are confused when it comes to looking at their Body Mass Index (BMI) versus their body fat percentage, since they do not always agree. So which should you go by?

First of all, body fat percentage is an estimate of the fraction of the total body mass that is fat mass, as opposed to lean body mass (muscle, bone, organ tissue, blood, and everything else that makes you work). This index is often used as a means to monitor progress during a diet or as a measure of physical fitness for certain sports. BMI is just a simple measure of the weight of a person scaled according to height.

That being said, body fat percentage is a much more accurate way to measure excess body weight than BMI since it differentiates between the weight of muscle and fat, while BMI just lumps it all into one figure.

So why are there so many BMI calculators on the internet? This is simply because measuring body fat percentage requires a few things: Special equipment, the physical presence of the person wishing to have their fat evaluated and the physical presence of someone who knows how to work the equipment. BMI is just a loose guideline for anyone curious about where they sit, but it is not a one size fits all answer. Curious about your body fat percentage? Then talk to a fitness professional at your gym or even your doctor. Curious about your BMI? Then check out [sorry, shameless plug] the Fit Calculator.

To read what the body fat percentages mean,

Description	Women	Men
Essential fat	10-13%	2-5%
Athletes	14–20%	6–13%
Fitness	21–24%	14–17%
Acceptable	25–31%	18–25%
Obese	32%+	25%+

FIT Calculator: BMI

FitSugar — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:30:00 PST

Ever heard of BMI? No not the music organization. BMI stands for Body Mass Index and it is a simple measurement of body fat based on height and weight.

Basically it’s a quick way to check in on your health and body in terms of weight. Just want to remind you that a healthy attitude about your body is just as important as physical fitness. I don't want to cause any unhealthy anxiety about having the perfect body. This is simply a tool.

I also want to let you know that there are limitations to the index. It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build since muscle weighs more than fat. Plus, it can underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass.

So check out Fit's Calculator to find out your BMI. That's not all! With the new SugarStats you can also find your Target Heart Rate, see if you're drinking enough water and find out how many calories you can eat to maintain your current weight.

Long Commutes Are Detrimental to Your Health, Study Says

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:14:05 PDT

Working a nine-to-fiver is mandatory for most people, and unfortunately, a long commute often comes with the territory. According to a study published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, those who travel 16 or more miles each way weigh more and have higher blood pressures than those with less than 10-mile commutes.

Of the almost 4,300 residents from Dallas and Austin involved in the study, researchers discovered that for every 10-mile increase in driving distance, the commuter's BMI (body mass index) rose .17 units. People with lengthy commutes are nine percent more likely to be obese, either because they didn't exercise as much, are eating fast food while driving, or they're not getting enough sleep because their long commute forces them to wake up early.

Weight isn't the only thing affected by a long drive to work. Spending that much time in the car, especially stuck in traffic, also makes a person tired, moody, and stressed out, which is one reason 52 percent of those in the study with a longer commute suffered from high blood pressure.

So what's a commuter to do? Quitting your job is obviously not an option, and if working at home part-time isn't feasible and neither is finding a job closer to where you live, keep reading to learn what commuters can do to avoid weight gain and other health issues.

What's the Holdup, Baby? Why Labor Takes Longer Today Than It Did 50 Years Ago

LilSugar — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:21:04 PDT

Does it seem like today's childbirth stories are a bit more dramatic than those of our parents and grandparents? While it may feel like a natural side effect of our oversharing generation (back then, no one was tweeting or Facebooking labor updates to their social networks), according to a recent study, women actually are spending significantly more time in labor today than they were 50 years ago.

The National Institutes of Health reports that the average duration of the first stage of labor has increased by 2.6 hours compared to data from the 1960s.

While the reasons for today's longer labors aren't entirely clear, and the authors of the study called for additional research to determine its causes and implications, these five factors were proven to play a part:

5 Factors That Have Led to Longer Labors

Women Weigh More The women whose data was collected from the contemporary group had an average prepregnancy body mass index of 24.9, compared to the previous generation's group average of a BMI of 23.
Women Have Their Babies Later in Life Women now are an average of four years older than their 1960s counterparts were when they gave birth.
Epidurals Are More Common Today Epidurals are used in more than half of all of today's deliveries, compared with just four percent 50 years ago. These are known to prolong labor by approximately 40-90 minutes.
Later Stage Delivery Practices Are Less Invasive In the 1960s, episiotomies, and the use of forceps to extract the baby from the birth canal, were much more frequent occurrences than they are today.
Bigger Babies Today's babies are an average of 4 ounces larger than those born 50 years ago.

How do the findings of the study compare to your birthing experience? Did anything strike you as drastically different as compared to labor stories that you've heard from previous generations? Share your stories!

Good News For Chocoholics: Study Says Chocolate May Help You Stay Slim

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:44:01 PDT

This good news couldn't come at a better time, especially with all the chocolate bunnies and cream-filled chocolate eggs hopping around. A study examining surveys from nearly 1,000 adult men and women published in the journal Archives of Medicine shows that people who eat chocolate frequently (more than twice a week) have a lower BMI (body mass index) compared to those who consume it less regularly. In fact, even though chocolate eaters in the study consumed more calories overall, they still had lower BMIs.

Researchers think there may be something in the chocolate that makes the calories consumed less likely to be deposited as fat. Chocolate contains polyphenols, which in animal studies have been known to increase the number of energy-burning mitochondria inside cells, as well as improve blood flow. Both of these factors could boost metabolism, which in turn would prevent weight gain. Some researchers, however, aren't convinced, because they feel in order for polyphenols to have this kind of effect on BMI, the chocolate consumed would need to contain high levels of polyphenols, such as that found in pure cocoa. Chances are the participants were eating processed chocolate with low levels of polyphenols.

Studies do show that indulging a little can curb cravings, preventing possible binges. This in turn prevents weight gain, which could also be a reason chocolate eaters have a lower BMI. Unfortunately, this recent chocolate research doesn't give you the green light to devour an entire chocolate bunny just yet. The researchers only found an association between eating chocolate and staying slim, and feel more detailed research needs to be done in order to confirm the connection.

Now we want to know: how often do you eat chocolate?

How Some Countries Limit Airbrushed Advertisements

Anna Monette Roberts — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:30:13 PDT

Airbrushing and advertising have become synonymous. While Photoshop renders perfect, slender, and flawless-faced images that may sell products or magazine covers, some worry that heavily altered depictions can negatively impact women. The good news is celebrities, companies, and several countries are taking a stand against excessive and unrealistic airbrushing. This week, Israel passed legislation that will place limits on airbrushing in fashion advertisements. Israel's new rules will require all advertisers to label photographs that have received retouching. In addition, the regulations will try to promote healthier body image by requiring all models to have a minimum body mass index of 18.5, which is the minimum weight that the World Health Organization considers standard or healthy.

Australia has attempted similar measures. In 2010, Australia's youth minister Kate Ellis came up with guidelines to ban ultra thin models and heavy retouching. The initiative would require Austrian advertisers to "disclose when images have been retouched and refrain from enhancing photographs in a way that changes a person's body shape, for example, lengthening their legs or trimming their waist, or removing freckles, lines and other distinguishing marks."

Working to comb through all advertisements, the UK has an independent group called the Advertising Standards Authority, which regulates advertising across all media platforms to ensure that ads are "decent and truthful." While airbrushing is a common occurrence, the agency does ban ads that are highly exaggerated. Recently, Rachel Weisz's L'Oreal's Revitalift Repair 10 ad was banned for its excessive and misleading airbrushing. In the ad, the actress's face was devoid of wrinkles and promoted extremely false advertising.

Back in the US, we don't have specific laws regulating airbrushing, but you can pick up this month's The Economist's Intelligent Life with the cover featuring an untouched Cate Blanchett. The Intelligent Life editor Tim de Lisle explains their decision, "When other magazines photograph actresses, they routinely end up running heavily Photoshopped images, with every last wrinkle expunged . . . Cate Blanchett, by contrast, appears on our cover . . . with the odd line on her face and faint bags under her eyes. She looks like what she is - a woman of 42." Ironically, an un-airbrushed image becomes a sensational news story, but as a public, do we prefer perfect, pretty images or do we really wish to see true portrayals of our celebrities? What do you make of these types of regulations?

Step Off the Scale! There Are Better Ways to Gauge Your Weight

Leta Shy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:49:47 PST

Using the scale has its place, especially if you are carefully tracking your weight-loss progress. But spending too much time focusing on a number can discourage you when you think you've dropped weight after a rigorous diet and exercise plan only to find that you haven't lost as much as you thought you have (which can happen for several reasons, usually because you are gaining muscle instead). If you dread stepping on the scale, here are three ways to gauge your weight instead.

Your clothes: One of the best ways to figure out if your diet and exercise plan is working? Nix the scale for your favorite pair of jeans. The fit of your favorite clothes can be more accurate than knowing how many pounds you are.

Your energy level: Chances are, if you're eating healthy, drinking water, and exercising, you'll be feeling the effects - you'll have more energy, sleep better, and be less lethargic overall. Feeling healthy is the first step in looking your best, so don't discount the inside-out effects of your new lifestyle, even if weight loss is your main goal.

Your body fat percentage: Your body's muscle-fat ratio can make the scale tip up even when you are feeling svelte. So be sure to keep your fat percentage in mind when it's time to step on the scale. That means investing in a model that includes an accurate fat percentage measurement so you can track your progress accurately. Or get your body fat percentage measured professionally with one of these tests. And don't always rely on your body mass index (BMI) to gauge whether or not you're in a healthy weight range; it's not always the most accurate measurement. Read more about the difference between BMI and body fat percentage here.

How do you measure your weight-loss progress when you're not on the scale?

Weight Impacts Sex Lives of Obese Women More Than Men

Annie Scudder — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:00:04 PDT

Dating site OkCupid created some shiny graphs last month based on its users' profiles and found that women who enjoy exercising have an easier time achieving orgasm. Now a study appearing in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy provides scientific evidence linking fitness with good sex. The study out of Duke University found obese women experience lower sexual satisfaction and a lower sexual quality of life overall.

Using a questionnaire to measure sexual interest, arousal, masturbation, and more, researchers found obesity impacts a woman's sexual satisfaction more than a man's, although both obese men and women have lower sexual quality of life over all. Obese women had lower sexual satisfaction scores than both cancer survivors and the general population, while obese men's satisfaction fell above cancer survivors and below the general population.

In fact, another study conducted last year found some extra weight can be a sexual advantage for men. It concluded the higher a man's body mass index, the longer he lasts in bed. Maybe size does matter.