“Skinny fat” is used to describe people who have a higher percentage of body fat combined with a low amount of lean muscle mass despite having a standard or normal BMI and bodyweight. This body type may appear relatively healthy or skinny but their body compositions isn’t healthy and can lead to future health problems.
If you’re in the fitness and health world, you’ve probably heard the term “skinny fat” being thrown around in various scenarios. This term is generally used to describe people who have a relatively higher percentage of body fat combined with a low amount of lean muscle mass, despite having a standard or normal BMI and body weight. This body type may appear relatively healthy or “skinny” but their body composition is not healthy and can lead to future health problems.
How does someone become skinny fat?
Skinny fat occurs when muscle mass decreases over time due to lack of use, and a gain in fat mass due to an unhealthy diet with high carbohydrates that are not being used for physical activity. People who have more sedentary lifestyles (eg. office jobs, with minimal physical activity in their daily routine) are more likely to become skinny fat, and have body types (ie. ectomorphs) that makes it difficult to gain weight
This issue often occurs when people focus purely on weight and BMI as their metric of health; BMI is a rough guide at best and doesn’t accurately correspond to the differing body fat percentage between individuals. Skinny or a healthy-looking BMI or weight doesn’t mean that someone is fit and healthy, and it all boils down to how that fat is stored.
Two Types of Fat: Subcutaneous and Visceral Fat
The first type, subcutaneous fat, is the fat that we can see, while the latter is the type of fat that “skinny fat” body types tend to carry a lot of. Visceral fat is an internal fat in the abdominal cavity that gets stored around the organs such as your kidneys, stomach, liver, and intestines.
A higher level of visceral fat is correlated to:
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Insulin resistance, and later Type 2 Diabetes
- High Cholesterol
- Lower Bone Mineral Density
The key takeaway is that body weight and BMI are not the best indicators of health and fitness, and that the best way to see if you are healthy is to do a body composition analysis. If your body fat exceeds the recommended healthy range based on your age and gender but your bodyweight is still within the “healthy” range, then you can combat “skinny fat” by including more physical activity in your daily routine.
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