[Mark Dight]

Hi

I'm 20 years old, and I'm studying at university right at the moment. Weight has hardly been my main concern, but over Xmas I packed on about 14lbs. I knew I was getting fatter, but I didn't really care as I was pretty sure that I was always fine as far as health goes, and i love eating too much to diet or anything like that. Still, when none of my pants would fit, I thought I should do a bit of research and see how much fatter I could get before it was dangerous.

So I looked up as much as I could on the internet and found that my BMI places me as moderately overweight at 26.6 (I weigh 196lbs and am 6'0" tall). I thought that that was all fine, but then I checked out a body fat percentage calculator online. This is where I got shocked. I have a waist measurement of 41" and an ilaic measurement of about 40" and hips of 42". These measurements always lead these calculators to tell me that I have a body fat percentage of - usually- 26-30%. The Navy calculator tells me that I am 33% fat. Given that the maximum healthy percentage for a 20 year old male is about 18%, I was pretty astounded. I expected to be a bit over, but not like double the normal for someone my age. I'm pretty chubby - big belly,couple of rolls and a big spare tire - but hardly a blob, I don't even have a double chin or anything. Most of these calculators seem to be on diet sites, although a couple are on more impartial sites like the Washington Post, so I figured that they are just hyping up your body fat to make you buy their products.

So, can anyone out there tell me if these numbers are even remotely true? As I said, I am not exactly huge, just a little on the heavy side. Do I actually need to do anything, or are these calculators jsut a bunch of junk designed to scare you into dieting?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Mark.

[tonic]

Mark,

Well, I am not an expert, but I would not trust the online stuff 100%. Sure they can probably give you an estimate of what your body fat percentage is, but I think you should really visit a professional to get an accurate percentage.

I mean, if its just based on weight and measurements.. does it take body frame into consideration?

Anyways.. I would go have it professional measured if you are concerned. Sorry I can not give you peace of mind! At any rate, it sounds like you want to lose a bit of weight.. so just go for it and ignore the numbers. Just lose until you are happy with yourself.