Body fat % comparison between devices

K

kevin1182

New member
Hello everyone,

I have a Tanita scale, that I have been using consistently for about 3 months, and this past week I purchased this body fat analyzer:



It seems that my body fat % from the scale is about 2.5% higher than from the handheld device (settings for the devices are the same, and I take the measurements one after the other). I have taken measurements every morning for the past week, and the 7-day average for the scale is 18.8 and for the handheld 16.3. Based on the numbers from my scale, my body fat % has dropped from 25 to 18.8 from when I started my weight loss plan in January to the present, but I wish I had the handheld device that entire time to see what its relative change was. I am more interested in the relative change in body fat, so these tools are still useful, but I was surprised that there was such a larger difference between these devices.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Are the differences related to the fact that one device sends the signal through the hands, and the other through the feet? I would really like to get my body fat measured now, so I can get an idea of which device is more correct!

Thanks much for any thoughts! Great site by the way, just saw it a week ago, have been lurking a bit, and wasn't sure where this post best fit but hopefully here is fine.

Kevin
 
The body fat analyzer is more accurate because the feet aren't a great place to test, I believe. Although the only truly accurate way to tell your body fat involve medical procedures like an infrared beam test. Consumer devices give you rough estimates, which is fine because it will still tell you if you are experiencing progress.
 
Thanks for the tip! I was thinking that the body fat analyzer might be more accurate.

I had read somewhere that the scale's estimate might tend to measure fat more in the legs since the signal originates there, but since I am someone who carries most of his fat in the stomach area I was thinking that the hand held device might give a higher fat %.

Thanks for the reply!

Kevin
 
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