Simply stated, obesity is a state of excessive body fat. Based on research using Body Mass Index almost one-third of American adults are obese. However, one potential downfall to using BMI as a measure for obesity is that BMI is not sensitive to body composition. Remember, obesity refers to excessive contribution of fat to an individual’s body weight, not necessarily total body weight. However, more times than not, the two go hand in hand.
One exception is in the case of heavier yet more muscular people. These people would include bodybuilders and other strength athletes who train with weights. The training leads to the development of greater than typical amounts of muscle tissue. Thus, if we merely use body weight to determine the BMI of a 5-feet 10-inch 220-pound man with 12 percent body fat, he would have a BMI over 30 and would be considered obese.
Consequently, to accurately identify obesity, we must measure body fatness, not just body weight. A body fat percentage greater than 25 percent for men and 30 percent for women is generally considered obese.
