A person can be overweight without being fat--for instance, according to weight & height charts a very muscular person can be considered overweight due to the density of their muscle. Another person may be gauged by the same chart as being at their normal weight, but they can have a high percentage of body fat--which makes them overfat AND at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke.

Body Composition is no big mystery it simply refers the division of total body weight into the ratio of fat (adipose tissue) to lean tissue (muscle, bone, and organs). Two people can be the exact same height & weight but look totally different due to differences in body composition--one might be all muscle with little body fat and the other mostly fat with little muscle.

Muscle weighs much more than fat! As you tone & strengthen your muscles they become denser, heavier; and as you exercise aerobically you lose fat, but if you go by the scales it can be a little misleading because the added muscle weight displaces the decrease in total body weight… SO, with this in mind, don’t use the numbers on the scales to determine the success of your fitness program or as an indicator of good health! Go by how you feel, are your clothes fitting more loosely, have you lost inches?

There is a big difference being overweight and overfat!
A person can be overweight without being fat--for instance, according to weight & height charts a very muscular person can be considered overweight due to the density of their muscle. Another person may be gauged by the same chart as being at their normal weight, but they can have a high percentage of body fat--which makes them overfat AND at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke.

Just because someone is not overweight does not mean they are free from health risks associated with obesity!Most people think “obesity” means extremely fat in terms of total body weight, but that is not true. The American College of Sports Medicine defines “obesity” as the percent of body fat that increases the risk of disease. According to the Aerobics & Fitness Association of America, body fat values considered to be excessive relative to health risks are values that exceed 20% body fat for men and 30% percent for women. Obesity is a dangerous medical condition which increases the risk of coronary heart disease through its influence on blood pressure, diabetes, & cholesterol