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Various criteria
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What is total body water percentage?
Total Body Water Percentage is the total amount of fluid in a person’s body expressed as a
percentage of their total weight.
Water plays a vital role in many of the body’s processes and is
found in every cell, tissue and organ. Maintaining a healthy total body water percentage will ensure
the body functions efficiently and will reduce the risk of developing associated health problems.
Your body water levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day and night. Your body tends to be
dehydrated after a longnight and there are differences in fluid distribution between day and night.
Eating large meals, drinking alcohol, menstruation, illness, exercising, and bathing may cause
variations in your hydration levels.
Your body water percentage reading should act as a guide and should not be used to specifically
determine your absolute recommended total body water percentage. It is important to look for
long-term changes in total body water percentage and maintain a consistent, healthy total body
water percentage.
Drinking a large quantity of water in one sitting will not instantly change your water level. In fact, it
will increase your body fat reading due to the additional weight gain. Please monitor all readings
over time to track the relative change.
Every individual varies but as a guide the average total body water percentage ranges for a healthy
adult are:
Female
:45 to 60%
Male
:50 to 65%
Source
:Based on Tanita's Internal Research
Note:
The total body water percentage will tend to decrease as the percentage of body fat increases.
A person with a high percentage of body fat may fall below the average body water percentage. As
you lose body fat the total body water percentage should gradually move towards the typical range
given above.
Underfat : below the healthy body fat range. Increased risk for health problems.
Healthy : within the healthy body fat percentage range for your age/gender.
Overfat : above the healthy range. Increased risk for health problems.
Obese : high above the healthy body fat range.
Greatly increased risk of obesity-related health problems.
Criteria based on body fat percentage
Body fat percentage is the amount of body fat as a proportion of your body weight.
Reducing excess levels of body fat has shown to reduce the risk of certain conditions such as high
blood pressure, heart disease,diabetes and cancer. The chart below shows the healthy ranges for
body fat.
