At under 5 feet height what percentage of body fat is acceptable as healthy?

shirazum2023

I am 4 feet 11 inches. Around 49.5-50.5 kgs. My body fat is 33.5% according to a body fat scale.
I have recently started working out. Following the Stronglift 5*5 3 days a week and pull up progression on 2 days of the week. I have definition on my shoulder and I have a little visible biceps but I was wondering according to my body fat scale, I am obese. I am quite concerned.
My measurements are,
Chest - 35
Waist - 28
Hip - 36
Thighs - 21.5

harper16

You're not obese. Both your weight and body fat are in the healthy range.

spyro88

Your body fat percentage number isn't linked to your height, as it's a percentage. So it would be whatever is a healthy BFP for a normal female your age.

spyro88

Essential fat 10-13%
Athletes 14-20%
Fitness 21-24%
Acceptable 25-31%
Obesity >32%

From https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/ideal-body-fat-percentage

tiptoethruthetulips

The body fat scale is probably not all that accurate. Hydration levels can play havoc with the accuracy.

Naija82

shirazum2023 wrote: »

I am 4 feet 11 inches. Around 49.5-50.5 kgs. My body fat is 33.5% according to a body fat scale.
I have recently started working out. Following the Stronglift 5*5 3 days a week and pull up progression on 2 days of the week. I have definition on my shoulder and I have a little visible biceps but I was wondering according to my body fat scale, I am obese. I am quite concerned.
My measurements are,
Chest - 35
Waist - 28
Hip - 36
Thighs - 21.5

The scale measurements are not very accurate I wouldn't worry too much on the number there. I tend to go by how my body looks. When I have a good BF% I can see my abs, now they are hiding in lots of layers of fat

ninerbuff

Percentage of body fat for ANYONE is ideal regardless of height. For women it's 25% and for men 20%.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

cmriverside

Those bioimpedence scales are notoriously inaccurate.

Ignore it.

age_is_just_a_number

Body fat scales measure your body fat based on the electrical resistance of fat vs non-fat tissues. Electricity always follows the shortest path. Also, those scales are programmed with one of a variety of algorithms. These two facts together translate into: inaccurate body fat % results of just the lower part of your body.

Health status has a body fat calculator that calculates based body measurements. https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/body-fat-percentage-calculator/
These calculations aren’t accurate either. They are based on databases maintained by different US organizations. It provides 4 different BF%.

What I do: I take the average of the 5 results.

At the end of the day, unless you are a performance athlete or a body builder planning to enter competitions, your body fat % doesn’t really matter.
What really matters, is how you feel. Do you feel fit and healthy?

Take care

kshama2001

shirazum2023 wrote: »

I am 4 feet 11 inches. Around 49.5-50.5 kgs. My body fat is 33.5% according to a body fat scale.
I have recently started working out. Following the Stronglift 5*5 3 days a week and pull up progression on 2 days of the week. I have definition on my shoulder and I have a little visible biceps but I was wondering according to my body fat scale, I am obese. I am quite concerned.
My measurements are,
Chest - 35
Waist - 28
Hip - 36
Thighs - 21.5

Since a BMI calculator puts you in the healthy range - 22.2 (that is BMI - a different metric from body fat) - the body fat scale is most likely inaccurate. (They are notoriously inaccurate.)

Which do you most look like?

sgt1372

BMI has its detractors but in your case, OP, i think that it is the more relevant measure of your current level of fitness.

22 is right in the "normal" range.

Your BF scale measurement is simply wrong.

If you want a more accurate measurement of BF, find a place where you can get a hydrostatic or DEXA test done instead.

My guess is that you are in the 20-25% range which is fine for women.

shirazum2023

@sgt1372 @kshama2001 I actually fall under the 20-22% to 25% pictures. I also noticed I have visible shoulder lines and biceps and when I flex, my chest bones are mildly visible from under the skin. I dont have abs though but I kind of dont have bulging fat either. My thighs are a little bigger I would say but my butt hurts from not having enough cushion already.

@tgillies003 I have never felt fitter. Its been 5 weeks since I have started stronglift 5*5 and all my lifts have progressed immensely. I can do around 12 clean push ups, 2/3 dips and I have become quite agile which I am enjoying so much.

ecjim

Don't worry about the body fat scale - as others have said , it's not accurate. 4'11' and 110 lbs - sounds good to me. Maybe you have a couple extra lbs of fat, but I wouldn't worry about it. Keep up with what you are doing, Strong Lifts is a good beginners program -You are making good progress - roll with it and reassess things in a couple months