On body fat

As I have discussed previously, body fat is a much better measure than BMI. Ideally we should strive towards a goal body fat rather than a weight. As you and your patients make plans for the inevitable New Year’s resolution (more exercise, better diet), you might want to consider this as a measuring stick – No Calipers or Cringing: A Discreet Gauge of Body Fat

As an alternative, Mrs. Lawton, 38, purchased a body fat analysis scale that she could use at home.

“I wanted to keep on top of my measurements since I had a certain goal of losing a specific amount of body fat, but I didn’t want the hassle of having to go to the gym,” she said.

Mrs. Lawton had plenty of options. Fat-analysis scales were introduced six years ago, and as early as 2000 most manufacturers offered at least one model. Today fat-analysis scales are so mainstream they can be found in most home, hardware and department stores alongside traditional mechanical and digital scales. Companies like Measurement Specialties, Tanita and Taylor Precision Products make the scales, which cost from $50 to $200.

Fat-analysis scales look like traditional bathroom scales, and, in one respect, act like them too: they weigh the body when they are stepped on. But placing your feet on a fat-analysis scale also puts them in contact with electrodes that send a small (and undetectable) electrical current through the body. The scale compares the current entering the body with the current leaving it and calculates body fat composition using bioelectric impedance analysis, or B.I.A., which is based on the difference in the ways that an electrical current is affected by muscle and fat.

I just might buy myself one to compare with my caliper measurements.