body fat


The percentage of a person’s body that is not composed of water, muscle, bone, and vital organs

bod·y fat

(bod'ē fat) The percentage of adipose tissue compared with muscle estimated by underwater weighing, calculating the ratio of weight in kilograms to height in meters, and/or estimating bioelectrical impedance of the body.

body fat

The portion of the human body that consists of fat. This is estimated in several ways: by hydrodensitometry, by calculating the ratio of weight in kilograms to height in meters squared (Quetelet index), and more recently, by estimating bioelectrical impedance of the body. None of these methods provides a precise indicator of body composition, but bioelectrical impedance is the simplest, least expensive, and most nearly accurate. See also: fat