Want to know how much of your body fat you should burn to look fit and healthy? An estimate of the amount of body fat that you need to lose is the first step in any successful weight loss program. Use this calculator to find out your body fat percentage, your body type and the number of calories you have to burn, to lose 1% of your body fat.

Body fat percentage is a good indicator of your body composition and indicates the amount of fat you have in your body.

Two persons of same height and weight may have same Body Mass Index (BMI) but different body composition. This is because of the difference in the amount and distribution of fat they have in their body. It is important to have a healthy amount of body fat to regulate body temperature, protect organs and stay energetic. But having more than the required percentage of body fat leads to serious health problems like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and many heart diseases. If you want to feel fit and look fit make sure you have less body fat and more muscle mass.

This calculator uses Hodgdon-Beckett formula, which is used by U.S. Navy, to calculate body fat percentage using tape measurements.

Hodgson, J.A. and M.B. Beckett (1984) Prediction of percent body fat for U.S. Navy men from body circumferences and height. Report no. 84-11 and 84-29, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA.
J.Hodgdon. and M.Beckett: Development of the DoD body composition estimation equations. Report No. 99-2B. Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, Cal. 1999.