Scales that measure body fat?

[tiggerlover]

At my live WISH group meeting today one of the girls brought a scale that not only weighs you, but it calculates body fat as well. You have to enter your height, sex and age and when you step on the scale there are sensors that read your weight and body fat. My question is how acurate are these body fat readings? How can a scale tell the difference between fat and muscle? If you are losing weight and getting fit, is it worth buying one of these scales to monitor your body fat?

 

[mum4jenn]

On the discussion boards at www.lowcarbfriends.com you can do a search on Tanita scales. There are several point of views on these scales. I do not have one so I can't give a personal opinion.

 

[Disney_1derland]

I just brought mine home yesterday. I was very lucky to get on very cheaply on Clearance at Kroger of all places!

I just had my check up last week and did the body fat analysis thing at the doctors office and the scale yesterday was only off by 3%. It's quick and I think it's going to be a good motivator even if the weight isn't coming off, the fat % will be!

 

[Poly Pal]

I just got a Tanita for my birthday and am in the process of determining a baseline body fat %. I've read that electronic impedance can be 3% off. But what I don't understand is wheter or not they mean a measurement of 20% coud be as low as 17% or as high as 23% OR do they mean that 20% could be in a range of 19.6% to 20.4%. Anybody know??

 

[Disney_1derland]

I'm embarrassed to say this but here goes.....at the doctor he came up with 42% and the scale says 45% but it can go either way. Also, remember NOT to wear socks on the scale.

 

[geetey]

Originally posted by tiggerlover
At my live WISH group meeting today one of the girls brought a scale that not only weighs you, but it calculates body fat as well. You have to enter your height, sex and age and when you step on the scale there are sensors that read your weight and body fat.

Hey! That sounds like my scale!! I love my Tanita but quite frankly, the body fat measurement doesn't do anything for me. I like to see the number going down (if I remember to check it), but I don't even know *where* I am supposed to be! The directions also suggest that you weigh yourself for weight first thing in the am, but you should wait to check your body fat % until you are hydrated, since 'waves' pass through the body measuring fat vs muscle. A fully hydrated body gives a more accurate test, as do clean bare feet. I typically don't make time to go back upstairs, strip down and jump on the scale mid-day. Just my opinion - I would call it a nice to have but not necessary.

 

[bicker]

Calipers can be inaccurate too. There are many reports of folks being measured by two trainers at a gym at the same time, or by a doctor and a nurse during the same doctors visit, and having the results vary by 5%, 10%, etc. Electrical impedence scales are never that inaccurate, and typically are consistently off from measurement-to-measurement, as long as your hydration level is the same. So if it is reading 1% high, it'll probably be 1% high next week, and the week after, etc.

However, if accuracy is important, your only choice is a hydrostatic test. It's mucho espensivo.