Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
QuickStats: Mean Percentage Body Fat,* by Age Group and Sex
--- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States,
1999--2004†
* Based on whole body, dual energy, x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans.
† Estimates are based on DXA scans acquired from a sample (N = 22,010) of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.
During 1999--2004, females had higher mean percentage body fat than males at all ages. Male/female differences were smallest at age 8--11 years
(3.9 percentage points) but increased to 12.0 percentage points at age 16--19 years. In males, mean percentage body fat ranged from 22.9% at age
16--19 years to 30.9% at age 60--79 years. In females, mean percentage body fat ranged from 32.0% at age 8--11 years to 42.4% at age 60--79 years.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from typeset documents.
This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr)
and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371;
telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
mmwrq@cdc.gov.