{ "name": "Strength Standards Calc Body Composition Reference", "title": "Body Composition Reference", "url": "https://strengthstandardscalc.com/datasets/body-composition-reference/", "csv": "https://strengthstandardscalc.com/datasets/body-composition-reference.csv", "markdown": "https://strengthstandardscalc.com/datasets/body-composition-reference/index.md", "computed_at": "2026-10-19", "license": "https://strengthstandardscalc.com/terms", "headline": "The median published figure in the Body Composition Reference is 20.50 percent across 2 sources' own pages (range 18 to 23 percent), read 12 October 2026.", "quotes": [ "The median published figure in the Body Composition Reference is 20.50 percent across 2 sources' own pages (range 18 to 23 percent), read 12 October 2026.", "2 of the 14 named sources read in full publish a figure; 12 publish none, read 12 October 2026.", "The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 20.50 percent across 2)." ], "citation": "\"Strength Standards Calc Body Composition Reference\", updated 2026-10-19, https://strengthstandardscalc.com/datasets/body-composition-reference/.", "changed_since": { "since": "2026-09-26", "previous_median": 20.5, "delta": 0, "direction": "unchanged", "sentence": "The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 20.50 percent across 2)." }, "national": { "unit": "%", "n": 2, "median": 20.5, "min": 18, "max": 23, "p25": null, "p75": null, "mean": 20.5, "units": { "%": 2 }, "published_sources": 2, "named_sources": 15, "read_sources": 14, "not_published": 12, "published_share": 0.143 }, "by_axis": {}, "rows": [ { "source": "NHANES DXA body composition reference values (full text)", "url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007038", "figure": "23%", "value": 23, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "quote": "In the 1988–1994 survey, the average male and female %fat values at age 25 were 23% and 34%, respectively [20].", "source_class": "secondary", "text_sha256": "85c95436ef234a43c6cfbd4a4f351989e41404ff09f33787fbcb5bc26fc1a00a" }, { "source": "American Council on Exercise body fat percentage categories", "url": "https://www.acefitness.org/about-ace/press-room/in-the-news/8602/body-fat-percentage-charting-averages-in-men-and-women-very-well-health/", "figure": "18%", "value": 18, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "quote": "According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a body fat range of 25% to 31% for women or 18% to 24% for men is typical for the average nonathlete.", "source_class": "primary-provider-own-site", "text_sha256": "a8f15200e043414fc4b1b33cd734090d2c1373aba5271fba4d802fcae663409d" } ], "not_published": [ { "source": "CDC Adult BMI Categories", "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/bmi/adult-calculator/bmi-categories.html", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "CDC Adult BMI Calculator", "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/bmi/adult-calculator/index.html", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "NHS calculate your BMI (adults)", "url": "https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/calculate-bmi-for-adults", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet", "url": "https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "every candidate on the page was refused" }, { "source": "Statistics Canada, prevalence of overweight and obesity, CHMS 2022-2024", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251002/dq251002b-eng.htm", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Statistics Canada table 13-10-0794-01, measured adult BMI by age group and sex", "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310079401", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "ABS waist circumference and BMI, latest release", "url": "https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/waist-circumference-and-bmi/latest-release", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Public Health Agency of Canada, obesity prevalence among adults", "url": "https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/healthy-living/obesity-canada/adults.html", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "NSW Health body mass index calculator", "url": "https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/heal/Pages/bmi.aspx", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "NCHS Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults, August 2021-August 2023", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK620755/", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "NHANES DXA body composition reference values (PubMed record)", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19753111/", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Kouri et al., fat-free mass index in users and nonusers of anabolic-androgenic steroids (PubMed record)", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7496846/", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-12", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" } ], "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/bmi/adult-calculator/bmi-categories.html", "label": "CDC Adult BMI Categories", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/bmi/adult-calculator/index.html", "label": "CDC Adult BMI Calculator", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/calculate-bmi-for-adults", "label": "NHS calculate your BMI (adults)", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight", "label": "WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251002/dq251002b-eng.htm", "label": "Statistics Canada, prevalence of overweight and obesity, CHMS 2022-2024", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310079401", "label": "Statistics Canada table 13-10-0794-01, measured adult BMI by age group and sex", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/waist-circumference-and-bmi/latest-release", "label": "ABS waist circumference and BMI, latest release", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/healthy-living/obesity-canada/adults.html", "label": "Public Health Agency of Canada, obesity prevalence among adults", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/heal/Pages/bmi.aspx", "label": "NSW Health body mass index calculator", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK620755/", "label": "NCHS Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults, August 2021-August 2023", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19753111/", "label": "NHANES DXA body composition reference values (PubMed record)", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7496846/", "label": "Kouri et al., fat-free mass index in users and nonusers of anabolic-androgenic steroids (PubMed record)", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007038", "label": "NHANES DXA body composition reference values (full text)", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.acefitness.org/about-ace/press-room/in-the-news/8602/body-fat-percentage-charting-averages-in-men-and-women-very-well-health/", "label": "American Council on Exercise body fat percentage categories", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/overweight-obesity/overweight-and-obesity/contents/summary", "label": "AIHW overweight and obesity report", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" } ], "methodology": "Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 2 of the 14 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 12 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 1 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 7 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per jurisdiction per measure: the authority's published cut-points beside the measured population distribution from that country's own health survey, so a reader's own number returns a PERCENTILE by age and sex and not just a band. The derivation nobody publishes is the cross-authority spread on the same body - the same BMI is 'healthy' to the NHS and 'increased risk' to the same body at an Asian-ethnicity cut-off, and the same body-fat percentage is 'fitness' to ACE and above the NHANES median - plus the changed-since on each survey release.", "embed": "

20.50 percent

median published figure, Body Composition Reference, across 2 sources, read 12 October 2026

Source: Strength Standards Calc Body Composition Reference
" }