Question:
Inaccurate fat analyzer

Does any one have experience with a hand held fat analyzer? I bought one at Radio Shack and it seems very inaccurate. The directions say to check at the same time of the day, fully hydrated, etc. If I follow the directions it says that I am slight overweight (I'm 5'5" and about 120, bmi of on the low side of normal). I talked to a sales person and they said to do it upon getting up, after going to the bathroom, before drinking anything. It seems a little more consistent that way, but still says that I am slightly over weight (25-27% body fat). It also says that my son who is 5'9" and 115 lbs is normal!! Has any postie had experience with this? Are they not accurate for any one or just not for post ops?    — Penny D. (posted on February 3, 2004)

February 3, 2004
Hi I dont have a hand held one Ihave a Tanita scale with body fat component and it is so off compared tothe one at the gym its absurd. They gym says 28.8 and mine sayd 37.6 I am 5'7" and 157 and visually have very little fat. My original BFA was 36 when I was 190 the first time i went to this gym. I wish I had my receipt, I would return it and get a much cheaper weight only scale. Good Luck, Lesley
   — Lesley T.

February 4, 2004
I would seriously question whether such hand-held devices, or scales, are capable of distinguishing fat from the excess skin we wind up with after massive weight loss. I've never used any of these devices, but I do recall having the big plastic "pincer" applied to my stomach many years ago, to have someone estimate body fat. (Of course, my stomach, like many of us, has always been the place most disproportionately fat on me to begin with.)<P>Surely there's a better way to measure fat, if that's what you're aiming for. Don't they have a test where they immerse the body in water to measure fat? I dunno if that eliminates the double-counting of excess skin or not.<P>I gotta ask, though . . . if you're on the low side of the normal BMI chart, you are probably downright thin. Why search for fat . . . would you really want to drop out of the normal BMI range altogether in an effort to lose it?
   — Suzy C.