Am I Overweight or Overfat?
Health and well-being are closely tied to the health of the body’s fat-free mass and body cell mass compartments. By focusing attention on these essential mass compartments, therapeutic strategies are more effective because important results can be measured objectively.
With two-thirds of Americans either overweight or obese, it has become "normal" to have excess body fat, but this “overfat” condition poses serious health risks. Moreover, the location of this excess body fat -- above the belt or below it -- impacts our susceptibility to a variety of health problems. If the excess body fat is in the abdomen, then slimming down may help to decrease risk.
While many people who are overweight have excess body fat, being overweight is not exactly the same as being overfat. Body weight includes the weight of the lean tissues -- muscle, internal organs, bone, and the water they contain -- in addition to body fat. Muscle is heavy. Therefore, it's possible that a muscular person might be overweight without being overfat. Despite this important distinction, the vast majority of people who are overweight are indeed overfat.
How do I know?
Body Composition by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis or BIA
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA, is considered one of the most exact and accessible methods of screening body fat. In conventional BIA, a person is weighed, then height, age, gender and weight or other physical characteristics such as body type, physical activity level, ethnicity, etc. are entered in a computer. While the person is lying down, electrodes are attached to various parts of the body and a small electric signal is circulated.
Simply explained, BIA measures the impedance or resistance to the signal as it travels through the water that is found in muscle and fat. The more muscle a person has, the more water their body can hold. The greater the amount of water in a person's body, the easier it is for the current to pass through it. The more fat, the more resistance to the current. BIA is safe and it does not hurt. In fact, the signal used in body fat monitors can not be felt at all either by an adult or child.
To read more about the analysis of Body Impedance Analysis, View/Download the Info Sheet (PDF)
