Body Fat and Eating Disorders

Body Fat and Eating Disorders

The body's relative amount of fat to fat-free mass is what body composition is. People, who are healthier, move more easily and efficiently, have optimal body composition. Your overall wellness and improving your quality of life is from achieving a more optimal body composition. Body fat and fat-free mass, which is what all the body's non-fat tissues are made of, are the two types of body composition. Things like bone, water, muscle, and tissues are what is included with fat-free mass. Body fat is literally fat located within the body. Fat also provides energy and helps protect internal organs, and regulates hormones that perform various functions in body regulation, making fat necessary for overall health. Having an excessive accumulation of body fat is how someone gets overweight or obese. According to "Point Medical Services"(2011) " Body fat includes essential fats, such as lipids, and nonessential body fats; these fats make up around five percent of total body weight for men, and up to 12 percent for women. Nonessential fat is found mainly within fat cells and adipose tissue, below the skin and surrounding major organs. The amount of nonessential fat stored in the body is variable among individuals on factors such as age, gender, and diet. Excess nonessential fat can normally be attributed to consuming more food energy than what is burned through metabolic functions and activity". The percentage of total body weight that is comprised of fat is how you determine your body fat percentage. Improving your appearance isn't just about decreasing your body fat percentage if it is too high. Your overall well-being can be affected negatively with a high percentage of body fat. Diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease as well as other health problems have been linked to having excess fat. According to "Point Medical Services," "Having excess fat, specifically surrounding the internal organs, can damage your health and contribute to serious medical conditions such as liver disease. Assessing body mass index (BMI) is a commonly-used method of measuring body fat. While BMI does not measure body fat directly, it helps to assess health risks related to body mass". Diet is affected by many factors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says that those factors influence the current epidemic of obesity that has 66 percent of the nation overweight or obese. Energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended is the basic cause for excess weight and other aberrant weight patterns. But a broader look at diet takes into account the strong influences of personal metabolism, genes, culture, environment, behavior and socioeconomic status.