BMI vs Body Fat: Which Indicates Health Better?
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is vital for all of us. It involves eating healthy, exercising regularly, and keeping track of certain metrics like body mass index (BMI) and body fat. Both BMI and body fat are widely popular weight-loss indicators. However, which one is more effective in indicating good health? Let’s delve into this matter.
What Is BMI?
BMI calculates your weight by dividing it by your height squared. While it might seem complicated at first glance, it’s an effortless mathematical calculation you can do yourself with the many calculators available online. The number derived from this calculation can help determine if you’re underweight, normal, overweight, or obese.
Calculate your BMI easily with our free BMI calculator here.
What Is Body Fat?
Body fat is a measure of how much body fat percentage you carry relative to lean muscle mass. Measuring body fat may be slightly uncomfortable for some people as there’s a need for specialized equipment to measure accurately. However, various methods include skin pinching or bioelectric impedance devices that are relatively easy to use despite their price range.
The Difference Between the Two
BMI is an indirect indicator of your health because it doesn’t tell what makes up your weight- whether it’s muscle mass or fat tissue. For instance, athletes may have higher BMIs due to their increased muscle mass rather than fat tissue but still have a low level of health risks associated with obesity-related illnesses; such as diabetes mellitus type 2 or heart disease.
On the other hand, measuring body fat is an ideal way of knowing if losing weight requires just shedding excess visceral fats even if one has a relatively high muscle content. Additionally, high levels of adipose tissues pose inherent health hazards irrespective of whether one exercises regularly or not.
Conclusion
While both BMI and Body Fat are useful measures to determine if someone is carrying excess body weight, body fat measurements provide more detailed information on an individual’s health status. While BMI can work as a broad baseline, measuring body fat offers a more insightful understanding of the percentage of your overall composition that comes from fat. In summary, while you may find it daunting to measure body fats at clinics or fitness centers, it might be worth the extra effort to get a better understanding of the role fats play in your overall health.
