Does height affect body fat percentage?

Options
Slumza
Slumza Posts: 33
in Health and Weight Loss
Ive seen some online that ask for height and some that don't which one is close to accuracy? Because I know that its not very accurate anyway.

Replies

  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
    Options
    If you do the measurements properly, then you'll get within 1-3 percentage points of your actual bodyfat percentage, which is frankly good enough. If you're using a tape measure method, it will be toward the 3 points if you tend to store all of your weight in your midsection than the average person or if you tend to distribute weight more evenly than the average person. Personally, I have a thin neck and store all my weight in my waist, so the military calculators (which are the most common ones you find on the 'net) over-estimate for me.

    I like to use this one, which doesn't use a neck-to-waist ratio:

    http://www.weightrainer.net/circbf.html
  • Slumza
    Slumza Posts: 33
    Options
    If you do the measurements properly, then you'll get within 1-3 percentage points of your actual bodyfat percentage, which is frankly good enough. If you're using a tape measure method, it will be toward the 3 points if you tend to store all of your weight in your midsection than the average person or if you tend to distribute weight more evenly than the average person. Personally, I have a thin neck and store all my weight in my waist, so the military calculators (which are the most common ones you find on the 'net) over-estimate for me.

    I like to use this one, which doesn't use a neck-to-waist ratio:

    http://www.weightrainer.net/circbf.html

    This tells me to measure Iliac where is that?? The belly button?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Options
    If you do the measurements properly, then you'll get within 1-3 percentage points of your actual bodyfat percentage, which is frankly good enough.

    I'm dubious about that, as even a Deda scan has a 1.5% error.
  • seliinac
    seliinac Posts: 336 Member
    Options
    Yes, around the belly button.
  • gracielynn1011
    gracielynn1011 Posts: 726 Member
    Options
    This one measures me at 27.6%, which is 3% higher than my usual method of measuring. But based on pictures, I would think this one is more accurate.
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Options
    Height helps some of the calculations, but they're kind of generic. Generally any tape/internet method is going to be +/- 5% at least. But no height doesn't have any relation to bodyfat % at all.

    The illiac crest is the top part of the outside of your hip bone. Google it, and you can see pictures of where to use the calipers.
  • Slumza
    Slumza Posts: 33
    Options
    did it. Said 15.7% bodyfat I doubt it my body doesn't look 15.7% bodyfat does it? axzajs.png
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Options
    15% is probably accurate. I'm in that same neighborhood myself. Visually (body composition wise) there's not a ton of changes that you can actually see 15%+. 15-20% can be weird because there's no change. It's really when you start to get under 15% that you see the most visual changes.

    Bodyfat is kind of tricky though, as people DO look different at same levels of bodyfat. It has a lot to do with underlying muscle composition. It can be VERY difficult to gauge just off of pictures.

    Here's a few sites that can show what I'm talking about:

    http://thisiswhyyourejacked.com/a-body-fat-percent-picture-guide/
    http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages
    http://www.bodyfatpics.com/
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
    Options
    i don't like to think about percentages b/c there is no 100% accurate way to measure body fat %. I prefer to use calipers and just measure mm of fat. It's just cleaner.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Options
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/830595-body-fat-estimation-methods
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
    Options
    I'm dubious about that, as even a Deda scan has a 1.5% error.
    Don't confuse 1.5% error with "within 1-3% points of bodyfat."

    If you're 20% bodyfat, a 1.5% error is within +/- 0.2 percentage points. A +/- 3 percentage point error from 20% bodyfat is actually a 15% error.

    The 'iliac' measurement is where your hip bone protrudes. Feel around your hips and you can feel a round bone coming out.
  • harleigh67
    harleigh67 Posts: 131
    Options
    Height should not affect body fat percentage at all,

    If you want an accurate body fat percentage you do NOT do it on line.

    Body Composition

    Two tests are offered: skin-fold calipers and Futrex. Skin-fold calipers assess the thickness of fat under the skin by measuring up to eight sites on the body. The Futrex analyzer estimate body fat using infrared light in less than 60 seconds.offered at at our local college you can also buy the caliper for yourself mine cost $14.


    If you really want to get technical call a local college and see if they have a BOD-POD to get your body percentage test done in a chamber.Here is an idea of what it tells you from my local college

    The BOD POD

    What is the BOD POD?

    . The BOD POD estimates lean muscle mass and the percentage of body fat, providing a more accurate weight of an individual. This egg-shaped pod uses air displacement to measure the body’s density within a 2% margin of error.

    The BOD POD’s roomy interior accommodates a wide variety of human shapes and sizes. That is why it is used routinely to measure the body composition of professional and collegiate football players, basketball players, and even sumo wrestlers!

    The BOD POD has successfully been used by people weighing up to 500 lbs. It's also ideally suited for wheelchair athletes, those with special abilities, the elderly, and children. And, because the BOD POD is noninvasive, it is completely safe for regular and repeated testing.

    Why choose the BOD POD for body composition analysis?

    Proven Accuracy using whole-body density measurement.

    Fast test time – about 5 minutes.

    Ability to accommodate all types of populations (including children, the elderly, and the disabled).

    Excellent repeat-ability. Safe for repeated testing and is non-invasive.

    Offered at my local college call yours to see if they have one
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Options
    did it. Said 15.7% bodyfat I doubt it my body doesn't look 15.7% bodyfat does it? axzajs.png

    Since you asked, I'd say you look above 15%
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Options
    I'm dubious about that, as even a Deda scan has a 1.5% error.
    Don't confuse 1.5% error with "within 1-3% points of bodyfat."

    If you're 20% bodyfat, a 1.5% error is within +/- 0.2 percentage points. A +/- 3 percentage point error from 20% bodyfat is actually a 15% error.

    The 'iliac' measurement is where your hip bone protrudes. Feel around your hips and you can feel a round bone coming out.

    Even DEXA is a bit off, usually upward. Because it doesn't distinguish between subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. There's a pretty big thread on BB.com and that was the general consensus. It wasn't by some huge amount either (there were people that were like 8-9%, but it was showing them at like 12-14%.
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
    Options
    Most methods are fairly accurate for people within a normal band of bodyfat. It's when you start to get to the extremes that it seems to get way off because most of the error is due to assumptions in the way most people store fat. The best thing to do if you really want it to be as accurate as possible is use multiple alogithms/methods and take the mean.

    For example, the Army algorithm thinks I'm ~22% bodyfat, which I think is way off based on how I look compared to pictures of people at 22% bodyfat using more accurate means. That's because I have a pencil neck and store my fat in my midsection, so my waist/neck ratio is always going to be larger than average. But the other military algorithms return 18.5% and the link I posted returns 17.7%, so somewhere in there is probably the right answer and quite frankly that's close enough.

    Measuring 12% on a person who is actually 8% is a 50% error, but we shouldn't take faulty results of a bodybuilder on steroids to invalidate the entire process.
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Options
    Pav, no doubt.
    I find the neck/bellybutton method to be really off for me too.

    I went and tried looking for the thread last night after I posted that. While I couldn't find the one I was originally talking about, I did find one with a number junkie showing a very high margin of error for DEXA (95% from a pubmed pic). Something about they're often miscallibrated.

    Interestingly I also found out in those threads that former fat people have a MUCH different bodyfat composition appearance, then those that were never fat to begin with.

Categories