What does body composition represent?

Body composition refers specifically to the makeup of the body in terms of the various components it contains, particularly the proportion of fat mass and non-fat mass. This includes everything that is not fat, such as muscles, bones, organs, and water. Understanding body composition is crucial in fields such as fitness, health, and medicine because it provides a more complete picture of an individual’s health than total weight alone.

While total weight can give a general idea of a person's size, it does not differentiate between fat and lean mass. Therefore, body composition is more informative because it assesses not just how much a person weighs, but what that weight consists of in terms of health-related components. This detailed analysis is essential to monitor health and fitness progress, optimize training and nutritional strategies, and evaluate disease risk.