PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: The Facts About Body Fatness

1. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:The Facts About Body Fatness Lesson 7.1 S.JETT, NBCT MONTEVALLO MIDDLE Fitness for life – Corbin & lindsey

2. Body Fatness Body fatness is a part of health-related physical fitness. It refers to the percentage of your total body that is comprised of fat tissue. It is important to have the optimal amounts of body fat. You will learn how body fat affects your health and how to assess your body fat.

3. Body Composition Together, all the tissues that make up your body are called your body composition. Lean tissue includes muscles, bones, skin and organs. People who do PA usually have more lean body tissue and less body fat than those that do not.

4. Heredity You inherit your body type from your parents. Some people are born with the tendency to be lean, muscular or fat. Inherited tendencies make keeping the body in a good fitness zone easier for some and harder for others.

5. Metabolism Your basal metabolism is the amount of energy your body uses just to keep you living. This is measured in units called calories. Your basal does not include the calories that you burn in work, recreation, or other activities. This means a person with a high basal metabolism will burn more calories at complete rest than a person with low metabolism. People with high metabolism can consume more calories without adding more body fatness. Metabolism is affected by age, heredity, and maturation. Most young people have high metabolism.

6. Maturation As you grow older and the hormone levels in the body begin to change, levels of fat also change. During the teen years, female hormones cause girls to develop more body fat than boys. Because of male hormones, boys will usually have greater muscle development than girls.

7. Early Fatness Children who are too fat develop extra fat cells that make it more difficult to control fat later in life. Keeping at good levels early in childhood and throughout the teen years helps keep body fatness in check later in life.

8. Diet The amount of energy in foods is measured in calories. A typical teen male needs to consume 2,500-3,000 calories a day to maintain an ideal amount of body fat. The female would need to consume 2,000 – 2,500 per day. Most males need more calories because they are usually larger and have more muscle mass.

9. PA Your body burns calories for energy. The more vigorous activities you do, the more energy your body uses and the more calories you need. An inactive person uses less calories each day and therefore needs to consume less calories. However, the problem with inactivity and calories is that the inactive person consumes more than he/she needs and the extra is stored in the body as fat.

10. Body Fatness – How much is Good? About ½ your body fat is located deep within your body. The remaining is between your skin and muscles. WEIGHT VS. FAT – The terms overweight and underweight do not provide enough information about health and fitness. Muscles weigh more than fat. For example, you could weigh more than someone else and actually have less body fat. The true indicator is to find your BC and know the amount of fat in your body. Obesity is the term used to describe people with too much body fat.

11. Body Fat in Females and Males From late teens on, females usually have more body fat than males. Teenage girls should not have less than 11% or more than 25%. Over 35% is considered obese. Boys should not have less than 6% or more than 20% and over 30% is considered obese.

12. The Importance of Body Fat Fat is an insulator. It helps your body adapt to heat or cold. Fat acts as a shock absorber. It can help protect your body from injury. Fat helps the body use vitamins more effectively. Fat is stored energy that is available when and if the body needs it. Fat, in reasonable amounts, helps you look your best and increases your feeling of well-being.

13. Too Little Body Fat The minimal amount of body fat is called essential body fat. If fat levels drop below this amount serious health issues can result, particularly among teenagers.

14. Eating Disorders Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder where the person severely restricts the amount of food he/she eats in an attempt to be exceptionally under fat. In addition, many anorexics do extensive PA in an attempt to lower their levels of body fat even more. Anorexia is most common among teen girls but is becoming more prevalent in teen boys. They have a distorted view of their bodies and see themselves as too fat, even when they are extremely thin. This is a life-threatening condition.

15. Bulimia Bulimia is an eating disorder where a person does binge eating, or eats a large amount of food in short period of time and then purges. This can be done by vomiting or using laxatives to rid the body of the food. Bulimia can result in loss of teeth, gum diseases, severe digestive problems, and other health problems.

16. Over fatness, Health and Wellness Having too much fat can be unhealthy. Scientists report that obese persons are at a higher risk of having heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. Obese can also contribute to a person not being as successful in surgery. Obese people also tire more easily and might be less efficient in work and recreation. The quality and quantity of life may be affected by obesity.

17. Body Fat Assessments Underwater weighing is the most accurate and most expensive measurement and must be done by an expert. Skin fold measurements are done using calipers to measure the skin thickness. Body measurements such as waist to hip ratios can be used to estimate fat. BMI or body mass index is a better indicator than height and weight alone, but is not ideal. Height/Weight charts is a common method because of it’s convenience but not reliable.

18. NO Excuses Recent studies shoe that obese people are often discriminated against in social situations. In school and employment situations. People need to learn to be fair to others regardless of their body composition. What do you think?

19. Review Describe a good level of body fat. Explain how that level is related to good health. Name 3 methods of assessing fat and the accuracy of each.