Measuring Body Fat with Calipers

When you divide the total weight of a person's fat by his weight, you get the body fat percentage. It varies from person to person according to age, sex, height, weight, hereditary factors, activity levels and eating habits. The ideal body fat percentage cannot be the same for all. Generally, women have higher body fat percentage than men. If the question 'how to measure body fat' is lingering in your mind, then take a look at the information given below.

How to Measure Body Fat

Measuring body fat with calipers is the most common and affordable way of determining the amount of accumulated (excess) fat in your body. With calipers, you can measure the skinfold thickness. Other common procedures of measuring the fat accumulated in the body include bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC), computed tomography based on radiation (CT), dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), near-infrared interactance (NIR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), air displacement or underwater weighing (BOD POD). CT and BOD POD methods are rarely used. BIA and calipers (anthropometry) are commonly used methods but the results are not so accurate. Errors may occur in NIR though it is considered as a simple and fast analytical technique of measuring body fat. MRI is a safe but an expensive method and so has limited use. TOBEC also requires expensive instrument. DEXA or bone scan test is gaining popularity because it is considered as a reliable and safe way of measuring the body fat. But, measuring body fat with calipers is perhaps the easiest way of measuring the excess body fat at home, and anybody can learn this technique.

Assessment of Body Fat with Calipers

The 'skinfold caliper' is a simple device which measures the thickness of a fold of your skin and thereby the underlying layer of fat. You are supposed to measure fat at the key locations, such as, back of the arm (triceps), front of the arm (biceps), shoulder blade and waist. This can give you a quite accurate figure of the total amount of fat present in your body, with the help of which, it is also possible to estimate the total percentage of body fat on your body. You will need someone who can do the measurements for you. It is important that the measurements are taken as close to the areas as possible. Here is how to use calipers to measure body fat.

How to Use Calipers to Measure Body Fat

• Pull out the fold of skin with the underlying layer of fat, at one of the given key locations, with your left hand and hold it with the fingers of the left hand.
• Hold the calipers in your right hand and place the jaws of the calipers on the fold. Remember, the jaws of the calipers should be about 1/4" (7.5mm) from the fingers of your left hand which still hold the fold of skin.
• Slowly release the trigger of the calipers so that the entire force of the jaws then lies on the skin-fold. You are not supposed to release the fingers of the left hand while taking the readings.
• You are expected to hold the fold of skin firmly with your fingers so that the calipers are measuring just the thickness of the fold of skin. It can be observed that when you place the calipers on the skin-fold, the calipers will 'creep' a little and after a few seconds the 'creep' will slow down. YES, this is the time to take the measurement. The reading on the body fat scale should be noted down before releasing any pressure off the calipers.

In this way, you may measure all the four locations as suggested above and note down the readings on the calipers scale. Finally, add up the four readings. The body fat percentage can then be determined from the tables given below.

Calculating Body Fat Percentage: Men

Sum of Skin-fold Measurements in mm	Age:16-29	Age:30-49	Age:50+
20	8.1	12.1	12.5
22	9.2	13.2	13.9
24	10.2	14.2	15.1
26	11.2	15.2	16.3
28	12.1	16.1	17.4
30	12.9	16.9	18.5
35	14.7	18.7	20.8
40	16.3	20.3	22.8
45	17.7	21.8	24.7
50	19.0	23.0	26.3
55	20.2	24.2	27.8
60	21.2	25.3	29.1
65	22.2	26.3	30.4
70	23.2	27.2	31.5
75	24.0	28.0	32.6
80	24.8	28.8	33.7
85	25.6	29.6	34.6
90	26.3	30.3	35.5
95	27.0	31.0	36.5
100	27.6	31.7	37.3
150	32.8	36.8	43.9
180	35.2	39.2	47
190	35.9	39.9	47.9
200	36.5	40.6	48.8

Calculating Body Fat Percentage: Women

Sum of Skin-fold Measurements in mm	Age:16-29	Age:30-49	Age:50+
14	9.4	14.1	17.0
16	11.2	15.7	18.6
18	12.7	17.1	20.1
20	14.1	18.4	21.4
22	15.4	19.5	22.6
24	16.5	20.6	23.7
26	17.6	21.5	24.8
28	18.6	22.4	25.7
30	19.5	23.3	26.6
35	21.6	25.2	28.6
40	23.4	26.8	30.3
45	25.0	28.3	31.9
50	26.5	29.6	33.2
55	27.8	30.8	34.6
60	29.1	31.9	35.7
65	30.2	32.9	36.7
75	32.2	34.7	38.6
90	34.8	37.1	41.1
95	35.6	37.8	41.9
100	36.3	38.5	42.6
150	42.3	43.8	48.2
180	45.0	46.2	50.8
190	45.8	46.9	51.6
200	46.6	47.6	52.3

The above tables do not have a line for every millimeter or column for every age group because this would have made the tables very large. Still, you can calculate the body fat percentage with the help of body fat percentage chart. For instance, a woman belonging to the 16-29 age group, having a sum of 29 mm for the four measurements, will have approximately 19.0% body fat. The percentage of body fat for 28 mm is 18.6% and that for 30 is 19.5%. Interpolating halfway would give 19%.

Remember, there is no fixed rule, one person might be better at a higher or lower body fat than another person of the same age and sex. It should be noted that the desirable body fat of athletes can vary depending on the type of sport. For example, it is observed that swimmers perform better at a higher % body fat than runners. Above tables give you some general guidelines which are applicable to most people.

Ideal Body Fat Percentage

For men:

Up to about the age of 30: 9-15% is considered as good.
From age 30-50: 11-17% is a good range.
From age 50 and up: 12 to 19% is considered good.
You should try to stay at or below the upper limits. Any individual near the lower limit would be considered as lean.

For women:

Up to age 30: 14-21%
From 30-50: 15-23%
From 50 and up: 16-25%.
As mentioned above, it is desirable to be at or below the upper limit and a woman near the lower limit would be described as lean.

I would like to mention one more thing here, that the above ranges are not averages for the US and UK populations, but are the desirable ranges. Actually a large number of people have body fat percentages well above the upper limits of the desirable ranges. Now that you know about the healthy body fat percentage and how to measure excess body fat with calipers, it is easy to find out whether the diet and exercise are working or not. I am sure you are rushing to get a caliper now. You can make optimum use of body fat monitors to keep a tab on your daily intake and for recording your progress as well.