Body Fat Percentage Scale

What is body fat percentage?

me — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:03:55 +0000

Body fat percentage is a important measurement in the health of an individual. It is, simply, the percentage of ones body in one number, along with the gender, gives better indication of ones body weight that is from fat.

If you say someone has 10% body fat, you know that the individual, if he is a man, has muscular definition on his body. If this number is for a women, you know this woman would be extremely low on body fat (women naturally have a higher body fat than men). For men, 6% body fat
is very low, although bodybuilders may temporarily go down to around 3% body fat. For women, essential fats are around 10-12%, and athletic women will carry between 14 and 20% body fat.

Body fat distribution is useful for the medical professional as well. Intra-abdominal body fat, for example, is known to correlate with a higher level of heart disease.

You can measure your body fat with a body fat percentage scale. These scales are available for the consumer market and are a convenient way to keep track of the percentage of your weight from body fat.

Some tips about body fat scales

me — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:18:10 +0000

If you are researching body fat percentage scales, here are some considerations:

who is using your scale? I recommend a scale that has “athlete” mode so that you can use the scale to measure all members of your household
similarly, if you want to use this as a body fat percentage calculator for kids, see if the scale has a children mode
see whether the scale can remember dimensions and scores. For example, does it remember height and gender for different people?
quality matters – the longer you can consistently use the same scale, it will be easier to measure your progress

When actually using the scale, remember to stay hydrated and weigh at the same time each day. If you are exercising before measurement, make sure you are still hydrated. It would be best to simply weigh yourself at least 1/2 hour after drinking a glass of water. If you have access to a body fat percentage calculator caliper, you can also use that as a relative measure in conjunction with the body fat scale.

How accurate is a body fat percentage scale?

me — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:05:26 +0000

The accuracy of these scales varies. The gold standard for bodyfat measurement is either a hydrostatic tank measurement, or more recently, by DEXA scanning. DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry). DEXA measures bone density, but also takes care of calculating body fat percentage.
This is a whole body scanner that can tell you where your fat is located – using a low dosage of Xray. This method is around 2-3% accurate and is considered the most accurate method.

It is more expensive than hydrostatic weighing. For hydrostatic weighing, you need to get weighed, with almost no air in your lungs, underwater. It uses the fact that fat is lighter than water, so you weigh less in water than in air. This also gets to aroun d 2-3% accuracy.

Calipers are another way to measure body fat, but they take a skilled practitioner to get a good level of accuracy.

Bioelectrical Impedance is the method used in body fat percentage scales. An electric signal will travel from hand to hand or foot to foot. A faster signal means more muscle – and this can be even 4-5% accurate.
If you are dehydrated though, the result will be less accurate.

BMI charts are a rough idea but I would say they are quite inaccurate for people further from the “normal” weight.