Many students are concerned with their weight. The health benefits of being within a normal weight range for your sex and height are well-known to most people. Also, there are obvious social benefits to being at your best weight and looking fit.

Many people use the popular height/weight charts to determine what they should weigh. These are based on mortality rates from insurance companies and are not necessarily desirable weights from a health standpoint. There does not seem to be one agreed-upon standard that all health professionals ascribe to when answering the question, “How much should I weigh?”

One way to avoid the weight question altogether is to stop focusing on body weight and focus on body fat.

“What’s the difference?” you ask. Well, body fat percentage tells more about a person’s body composition and the quality of a person’s body weight. For example, the desirable body weight range for a 21-year-old professional football player who is 74 in. tall and weighs 235 lbs. is 172 to 197 lbs. This is from the height/weight tables and is assuming a large frame. Clearly, at 235 lbs., this player is overweight and, by conventional standards, should reduce his weight by at least 38 lbs.

But suppose this same football player had a total fat content of 12.7 percent of his body weight compared with about 15 percent body fat typically reported for young, male non-athletes. While this player is “overweight,” he is also “underfat.” Conversely, someone may be within or even below his or her appropriate weight range, but may have a higher than desirable percentage of body fat.

Another reason to consider monitoring body fat percentage rather than body weight is research which shows that the typical American loses muscle tissue and gains fat steadily from about age 20 on. For example, a person who weighs 160 lbs. at age 20 has 16 lbs. of fat (10.3 percent) and 144 lbs. of everything else (bones, muscle, organs, etc.). But by age 45 this same person, who still weighs 160 lbs., has 36 lbs. of fat and 124 lbs. of everything else.

Muscle tissue is the component of “lean mass” that changes the most. This means that from ages 20 to 45, this person’s weight has not changed, but he or she has lost 20 lbs. of muscle tissue and replaced it with 20 lbs. of fat. This process is accelerated when people get into the “Yo-Yo Syndrome” of dieting. If you go on a diet that emphasizes calorie restriction and lose 20 lbs., you have undoubtedly lost a combination of fat, water and lean muscle tissue. If you end up gaining the same 20 lbs. back over a period of time, you gain it all back in FAT. So, while your weight remains the same, your percentage of body fat has increased. Repeat this pattern several times over a number of years and you can guess the results.

However, you do not have to be a typical American! Those who exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet will minimize muscle tissue loss and fat gain. In fact, it’s never too late to build muscle tissue back up and regain the correct balance between muscle, fat and weight.

Increasingly body fat percentage, not body weight, is the preferred means of measuring body fitness. Body fat percentage can be measured in several ways. One of the easiest methods involves circumference measurements of three body sites and some simple equations. While this method is only 4 to 5 percent accurate, it can be useful to monitor changes over time fairly accurately.

What is the ideal percentage of body fat? It is difficult to come up with an exact figure, but here is a range that would be considered healthy and “in shape” by any health professional:

Up to Age 30 Over Age 30 Athletes

MEN 12-15 percent 16-18 percent 5-11 percent

WOMEN 18-22 percent 23-25 percent 12-17 percent

In summary, having an awareness of your body fat percentage is an important factor in achieving and maintaining physical fitness. A key issue to remember is that focusing on weight can be frustrating and often ineffective. A few pounds of weight or a percent or two of fat will not adversely affect your health or make a difference in your looks or fitness level. Stop by the Student Wellness Resource Center in the Holmes Student Center and ask for the Body Fat Calculator. This and a measuring tape are all you need to calculate your body fat percentage.