Body fat percentage or BMI?

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MensEtSalvere2013
MensEtSalvere2013 Posts: 230 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is more important in the scheme of things? body fat percentages or BMI?

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  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
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    BF%. BMI only matters to insurance companies and doctors who dont know any better
  • selenametts
    selenametts Posts: 42 Member
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    body fat percentage. BMI can be skewed based on height and muscle mass. BF% is more accurate. IMO.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    BF% hands down.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    body fat percentage..

    BMI does not account for muscle mass and is a garbage stat, IMO.

    Give you an example..I am about 13% body fat but my BMI puts me in the "obese" category ..really???

    go with body fat %
  • purple180
    purple180 Posts: 130 Member
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    Body Fat %. BMI scale is a liar!!!! :-)
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    Body fat for health. BMI for insurance companies. :P
  • Qski
    Qski Posts: 246 Member
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    ^^^^
    All of what they said... BF hands down. BMI is only for the super average of average...
    it doesn't work for super fit, super strong and a load of other people

    Like I go from normal to overweight at a size 8 US clothes and I go to obese at a size 12?
    Seriously?

    I am definitely obese now and both BF and BMI would quite happily confirm that. but BF is more important and relevant.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,983 Member
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    Body fat is what matters.

    BMI is a useful tool for populations and can give you a rough starting point, but it breaks down at the individual level for those with higher muscle mass.
  • zensugi
    zensugi Posts: 76
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    Body fat percentage is what you should be targeting. Having said so, BMI is a—granted, imperfect—predictor of body fat percentage, which is very easy to calculate. BMI works at the population level but, as previous posters have pointed out, it can't deal well with people with lots of muscle (say weightlifters and professional athletes). However, I would guess that if you are starting to lose weight you probably are not in that group where BMI does not apply.

    Personally I use BMI because given my height & weight is pretty much spot on as a guide. If you are interested in measuring body fat here you can see an explanation on how to do it: http://scoobysworkshop.com/body-fat-calculator/
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
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    BF%
  • MensEtSalvere2013
    MensEtSalvere2013 Posts: 230 Member
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    Thanks all!
  • MickeyBoo
    MickeyBoo Posts: 196 Member
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    I prefer Body Fat, but I don't hate the BMI. If you look at it properly and exclude the body types and genetics that it says to exclude it can be quite accurate, and provides a very large range for people to fall into to be classed as healthy.
  • chrtyanderson
    chrtyanderson Posts: 16
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    was kinda wondering the same thing. Body fat calipers show 23-24.5% body fat and BMI of 26. I am 5'9 female 176 pounds with a goal of 155 weight. Also, how accurate do you think "home" calipers are. I keep coming up with the same numbers in multiple areas so I conclude that it is fairly accurate. Any advice or tips appreciated.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    My problem with bf is that its not that easy to get it accurately determined. As to bmi accuracy there was a study done in Australia about the waist sizes and it found that the bmi actually underestimated the obesity problem.

    For me the bmi is accurate enough. I don't have a particularly low amount of body fat or a high amount of lbm so it's good indicator. By that measure its an okay indicator for the majority of adults, because they are overweight and unfit.

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