Research
Energy balance
Body fat percentages of 32-35% in women are associated with adverse skeletal outcomes, suggesting a lower obesity cutoff for older women than the WHO standard of 40%.
For older women, aim for a body fat percentage below 32-35% to protect bone health, rather than relying on the standard 40% cutoff.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
we recommend a lower cutoff for obesity for women, specifically, 32%-35% of body fat, than currently proposed by WHO (40%).
Why this rating
Based on observational studies cited in the review.
Source
Aging human body: changes in bone, muscle and body fat with consequent changes in nutrient intake
Pegah Jafarinasabian et al. · Journal of Endocrinology · 2017
DOI 10.1530/joe-16-0603
narrative_reviewCited 314×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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