What does Android and Gynoid mean in Phoenix Advanced for body fat?

Learn about the regions of the body that are used to predict subcutaneous and visceral body fat, as well as bone mass in the Styku Phoenix body composition results.

Android and Gynoid regions

The android region of the body is the midsection of the torso, in the waist area, under the rib cage.

The gynoid region of the body is the lower torso, in the hip area, down to the top of the thighs.

Android Fat Distribution

Android fat storage describes the distribution of fat mostly around the trunk/abdomen area (referred to as ‘central’ fat storage), or the central torso region of the body. Due to this type of distribution, those exhibiting excess android fat patterns will portray an ‘apple’ shaped appearance where the waist is much larger than the hips.

Android fat is not stored subcutaneously to the levels that gynoid fat is, rather more ‘viscerally’- in and around the organs located in the peritoneal cavity (abdominal cavity). The consequence of this is that it can compress and restrict blood flow to the vital organs and can lead to issues such as insulin resistance due to the changes that occur in hormone profile.

Excess fat in this area can lead to obesity related diseases.

Gynoid Fat Distribution

A gynoid fat pattern is characterized by the accumulation of excess fat around the hip, buttock and thigh regions.

Due to this type of distribution, excess gynoid fat patterns will have a ‘pear’ shaped appearance where the bum and hips are much larger than the waist.

This type of distribution is typical in females (the term gynoid relates to the female form). Gynoid fat is generally stored ‘subcutaneously’ which means that fat stores on the surface of the body, just under the skin and above the muscle.

Although excess fat levels may lead to the client wishing to reduce them for aesthetic reasons, there is no real immediate health risk of obesity related diseases.