A new way to measure body fat depending on measurements of your height and your hip circumference is an improvement in the commonly used measurement known as body mass index (BMI), according to Developers from the new method.
WebMD.
The new measure, called body adiposity index (BAI), it says. So far, he validated the new measurement in Hispanic and African-American populations, and says that more research is required to confirm how well it works on whites and other ethnic groups.
With BMI, it says: '"You get a relative number" evaluating body fat. With the new Bai, "you get a number that is percent fat". The new method, he says, is more accurate.
While an improvement in the BMI method is deserved, the new method seems to have its limitations too, says Fabio Comana, a physiologist for the exercise of the American Council in the exercise, which reviewed the new search for webmd.
The new search is published online in obesity magazine.
Exercise For Body Fat Loss - New Alternative to BMI for Measuring Body Fat
'' IMC has been around since the 1840s, "says Bergman. An IMC of less than 25 years, for example, is considered healthy, while those of 30 and above are considered obese. (A 5-foot person 10 inches tall has an IMC of 24.4 to 170 pounds and an IMC of 30.1 to 210 pounds.)
BMI is "OK in general for groups," he says. Bergman. But on an individual basis, it is not as accurate in assessing body fat, especially for people who are very muscular.
For example, he says: 'If you had an IMC of 30, you can have 25% fat [as measured in tests that directly evaluate body fat] If you are a man, but 35% if you are a woman. "Someone very muscular can have an IMC more than 25 years, but has little body fat, he says.
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body fat percentage '' standards' are different for men and women, according to the American Council of Exercise (ACE). For example, classify a percentage of body fat from 25% to 31% for women and 18% to 24%% for men as' 'acceptable' '' intervals, with athletes and fit into smaller percentages.
Body fat percentages more than 32% for women and more than 25% for Men are denominated by Ace.
.The Bergman team evaluated 1,733 Mexican-Americans and 223 African Americans using the new Bai formula and compared how it correlated with its percentage of fat Body measured by DXA (double-energy X-ray absorptiometry). DXA scans measure body fat and muscle and bone mineral; It is seen as the gold standard by experts.
The researchers chose hip circle and height, says Bergman, because both are strongly correlated with the percentage of body fat. Knowing body weight is not required in the new method. The formula is:
bai = (hip / height x the square root of height) minus 18.
'The notion of reaching an alternative method is worthy: "COMANA account the WebMD. BMI, it says, is limited.
For example, it agrees that overestimate body fat in Slim people, especially male athletes with high muscle mass.
However, the new survey has limitations, he says. The population of Hispanic studies, for example includes people from 18 to 67 years with BMIS varying of 17.1 more than 71.
The researchers found great differences in the Bai scores among the very skinny and very thin African-American Mexicanans. For example, the Mexican-Americans who had less than 10% body fat in the DXA tests had, on average, a 21.9 BAI score, while African Americans with less than 10% body fat had an average BAI score of 18.4
Limitations with BAI, says Comana, seem similar to those experienced with BMI.
"This study needs to be replicated with bra NCOS and Asians and all other groups, or need a larger population, or both, "he says.
