A measurement most people can take at home with a tape measure performed about as well as a considerably more complicated framework for identifying unhealthy levels of body fat, according to a Rutgers Health analysis published in JAMA Network Open. The study also found that body mass index used by itself missed a substantial number of people who met body fat criteria for obesity.
Researchers analyzed data from 1,900 U.S. adults between ages 20 and 59 who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and received DXA scans, a precise imaging method for measuring body composition. Obesity by that standard was defined as total body fat of 25 percent or more for men and 35 percent or more for women.
