Body fat in humans includes both essential and storage body fat. Essential body fat is needed to maintain life and is generally higher for women than men. Storage body fat is the type that accumulates throughout the body and is similar for both men and women. When storage body fat increases above a healthy range, disease risk increases. However, the location of the stored body fat is even more important for determining disease risk than the amount of fat in an individual.

Higher levels of visceral fat will an individual's risk of developing many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.