Body Fat Analysis is a procedure to know body fat percentage, lean mass and bone mineral content in the whole body.

When we go for body composition analysis, there we see body fat and fat free mass

• Body fat –can be found in muscle tissue, under the skin (subcutaneous fat) or around the organs (visceral fat).
• Some fat is necessary for the body as it helps in protecting the integral organs, stores fuel for energy, and regulates hormones for proper functioning of organs. It is called Essential fat.
• Fat free Mass –It includes bones, water, muscle, organs & tissue.

By knowing your percentage of body fat:

• One can determine if your current nutrition and exercise program is helping you to lose fat and lean body mass in the correct proportions.
• You can take steps to reduce risk for various diseases and improve your health

Too little body fat is linked to problems with normal, healthy functioning in both men and women. It can also lead to problems with reproduction in women. Excessive body fat increases your risk of many diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and certain cancers.

There are several ways to get an estimate of your body fat percentage like bio electrical impedance, skin fold measurement, Dexa scan, hydro static weighing and Body fat calculators.

Can be also calculated if you know your BMI (wt in kg/Ht in m2)
Child body fat% = (1.51 ﾗ BMI) － (0.70 ﾗ Age) － (3.6 ﾗ sex) + 1.4
Adult body fat% = (1.20 × BMI) + (0.23 × Age) − (10.8 × sex) − 5.4
where sex is 1 for males and 0 for females.
According to American counsel of exercise fat distribution is classified as under

Description	Women	Men
Essential Fat	10% to 13%	2% to 5%
Athletes	14% to 20%	6% to 13%
Fitness	21% to 24%	14% to 17%
Acceptable	25%to 31%	18% to 24%
Obese	over 32%	over 25

By Ms. Prachi Jain, Dietitian/Nutritionist at the CK Birla Hospital in Gurgaon.