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Weight, Body Fat and BMI: Which Numbers Really Matter?

  • Published
  • By Dana Crudo
  • Health.mil
FALLS CHURCH, Va. --  Obesity is a major health epidemic in the U.S. and military service members are no exception to the battle of the bulge.

According to the 2011 Health Related Behaviors Survey of Active Duty Personnel, 51 percent of service members are overweight. Another 12 percent of service members are classified as obese. Nationally, some 69 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.

These numbers seem to imply that service members need to start losing weight. However, the numbers can be deceiving. The weight guidelines rely on the body mass index to determine whether someone is within a healthy weight range. But the BMI ignores the composition of that weight--how much is bone, muscle and fat.

"While BMI is a good... (indicator) for most men and women, it ... may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build, which may apply ... to active duty personnel," said Dr. Catherine Loria, nutritional epidemiologist and program director at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Focus on Your Body Rather Than a Scale

Service members may want to jump off the scale once in a while and focus on their body composition to get a better sense of whether they are in overall good health, said Kimberly Stoudt, Ed.D., a senior physical fitness education specialist at the Human Performance Resource Center, a Department of Defense initiative.

"By monitoring height and weight and body fat, you can ... get an idea of your health risks," she said. "Body fat is a pretty reliable indicator of things that put you at higher risk for disease, including Type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart attack and cardiovascular disease."

In addition, where body fat is located can elevate a person's risk for disease, even with a healthy weight.

"Having most of your fat around the waist relative to total body fat is associated with a higher risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes," Loria said.

Military service branches typically do not measure body fat. Instead, officials rely on height/weight charts to determine if service members are overweight.

Those who fail that test will have their body fat measured. Although the emphasis is often on "making weight," as it's called in the military, it is actually the percentage of body fat that ultimately matters.

Service members and their families can use several methods to monitor their own body fat at home.

These include:

· Determining waist-to-hip ratio: This involves dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. A waist-to-hip ratio above .80 for women or .95 men is unhealthy, according to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.

· Calculating body mass index: Body mass index is defined as body mass divided by the square of height. A BMI of 18.5 of 24.9 is considered normal weight. You can find out yours by using an online BMI calculator.

· Using skin fold calibers: This requires using calibers to pinch specific areas on the body to take measurements. If more than an inch can be pinched there is too much body fat.

· Getting a bioelectrical impedance analysis: This gives you a body fat percentage using a scale or device to measure body composition based on an electrical signal.

Reasonable levels of body fat for service members are between 10 and 20 percent for men and 15 and 30 percent for woman, according to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.




News Stories | military health system healthy living obesity BMI health body composition Human Performance Resource Center body fat