Why is it important to know your body fat percentage?

Having too much body fat puts you at an increased risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, colon cancer, breast cancer, and endometrial cancer. In addition, being overweight contributes to 400,000 deaths per year. If you lose excess body fat, not only will you look better, you could be extending your life. To find out your body fat percentage, try our online body fat percentage calculator.

Are you obese?

If your BMI, or body mass index, is 30 or more, you are obese. The percentage of Americans who were obese in 1971 was 14.55. Today, it is 30.9%. To calculate your BMI, try our BMI calculator.

Are we getting fatter?

Yes. We are much fatter than we used to be. Today, 1 in 3 Americans is obese, which is twice as many as 30 years ago. Women are eating 335 more calories per day and men are eating 168 calories more per day than they did 30 years ago. Average dress sizes have gone up, too. In 1950 the average dress size was 8. Today, it is 14.

How can you lose body fat?

First of all, cut your calories. The government recommends 1,600 calories a day for the average sedentary woman and 2,200 for men. In 2000, the average woman ate 1,877 calories and the average man ate 2,618 calories. This is about 300 calories more per day than we need.

Second of all, lose it slowly. The quicker you lose body fat, the less likely it is that you're really losing body fat. According to the National Academy of Sciences, when body weight is lost quickly, the weight loss is more likely to be mostly water, and not fat.

You can find out how many calories your body burns per day by calculating your BMR.