Body composition is one of the five health-related fitness components and is the percentage of body fat, bone, water, and muscle present in your body. Although fat is associated with negative connotations, it serves important functions in our bodies such as cushioning organs, absorbing shock, and regulating temperature. This “positive” fat is called essential fat, and the “negative” fat is called nonessential fat. Body fat percentage is used to determine the total fat present in your body and is based on each individual's gender and height. In Corbin's textbook "Concepts of Physical Fitness: Active Lifestyle for Wellness," he states that the location of fat influences health risk; depending on where the fat is, you could be considered an apple or a pear. A person considered an apple has upper body fat. This often occurs in men and postmenopausal women. The pear shape, more common in women than in men, contains more fat located in the hips and upper legs. Corbin defines visceral fat as the fat located in the core of the body (abdominal cavity) and subcutaneous fat as the fat located under the skin. There are different ways to determine your body composition and the risks involved. In this lab, body measurements are taken to determine body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index (BMI), and basal metabolic rate (BMR). Skinfolds from the chest, abdomen, and thigh were collected for men, and the triceps, iliac crest, and thigh for women. Each person's age, height and weight were recorded as well as waist and hip circumferences. The skinfolds of the triceps, iliac crest and thigh measure 21 mm, 34 mm and 19 mm respectively, making a sum of 74 mm. Using the sum of skinfolds (mm) and current age (19), body fat percentage...... middle of paper ......e amount of empty calories consumed. In conclusion, having a healthy lifestyle helps reduce the risk of health problems, whether or not you have a family history of illnesses. Physical activity and making smart choices about how much and what you consume can extend your lifespan. Being aware of your body composition can help you identify your risk classification and plan how to avoid disease. Just as excess body fat can be harmful to health, having too little fat can also be crucial to a person's health. The goal should be to have a balanced calorie intake and physical activity (calories in = calories out) for a healthy lifestyle. Corbin, C. (2013), Fitness Concepts: Active Lifestyles for Well-Being, McGraw-Hill Higher Education Publishing2. MACKENZIE, B. (2001) Body types and construction [WWW] Available at: http