Ideal fat percentage
Body fat is the main cause of obesity and other weight gain issues. Even those who have lean mass, fat percentage makes a huge difference. Therefore it is necessary to keep track of your ideal fat percentage depending upon your personal requirements. The amount of fat in body is directly dependent on your age, gender, amount of physical work and eating habits. The ideal percentage varies from one individual to another based on numerous factors such as hereditary, body type, activity levels, age and several different types of eating habits. It is generally considered that body percentage should be above 25 percentage so as to sustain normal body functioning.
Fat percentage in body comprises of various essential and storage fats. Both types of fats have important role in maintenance of functions and healthy life. Essential fat consists of quantity that is necessary to maintain equilibrium between internal functional and external activities of the body. Ideal fat percentage is also helpful in keeping up reproductive functions. Women as compared to men need more fat percentage due to their body’s high demands of energy. The amount of essential fats should be 10-13% in women and 2-5% in men. On the other side storage fats include assemblage of fat in adipose tissues, a part that protects intrinsic organs in abdomen and chest.
People who are overweight usually develop high fat percentage than normal due to their regular consumption of more energy as required by the body and also because of sedentary lifestyle. Sometimes the combination of both these reasons with passage of time is the actual cause of high fat percentage. Our body stores fat in different areas but it depends upon genetic factors related with women and men. Generally men develop fat near the abdominal regions but in women fat is stored more around thighs and hips. Various factors determine a person’s ideal fat percentage based on their gender, age, physical work load and other activities. By reducing body fat to the extent of ideal fat percentage these are the most abundant areas of stored fats from where we lose from last.
Internally some amount of fat is also stored in the body and this is commonly called visceral fat that is reduced with weight loss. Maintaining ideal fat percentage in body keeps a person healthy and fit. Age contributed a lot while determining the amount of fat percentage as with increasing age more fat starts accumulating in body. Storage of fat with age is due to low metabolic rate and alteration of hormones. After the age of 16 years there is an enhancement of fat storage that results in expansion of every fat cell present in the body without any increase in number.
Generally it is considered that if fat percentage of body is below ten percent in women and three percent in men then it leads to an unhealthy state. The ideal fat percentage id regarded as 12% for females and 5% for males and this all depends upon the body structure and internal demands of energy. There are some people who can decrease their fat levels without any huge problem especially when a low percentage of fat is maintained for a short span of time.
