# Help with body fat monitor/bathroom scales please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200 "2010-05-03T20:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/1 "2010-05-03T20:11:02Z")
Hi all. I want to buy one of them new-fangled body fat monitor bathrrom scales, see. But I am overwhelmed and confused, much like Caveman Lawyer, by the multitude of options. This one has handles on a cord you pull out and hold. Anyone have one of these? Will it break easily I wonder? > **[Amazon.com: Omron Body Composition Monitor with Scale - 7 Fitness Indicators...](https://www.amazon.com/Omron-Body-Composition-Monitor-Scale/dp/B0020MMCDE)** > > Omron’s full body composition monitors are unlike any other fitness measurement devices available. The breakthrough design is clinically proven to be just as accurate as much more expensive methods used by physicians and other health professionals.... This one has no handles and is commensurately cheaper. I can’t tell what the damn difference is. Anyone? > **[Amazon.com: Omron Body Composition Monitor with Scale & 5 Fitness Indicators...](https://www.amazon.com/Omron-Composition-Monitor-Fitness-Indicators/dp/B001IV61J4)** > > Omron’s full body composition monitors are unlike any other fitness measurement devices available. The breakthrough design is clinically proven to be just as accurate as much more expensive methods used by physicians and other health professionals.... Here’s the other most popular brand, Tanita. What about this one, anyone have it? > **[Amazon.com: Tanita BF-680 Body Fat/Body Water Scale : Health & Household](https://www.amazon.com/Tanita-BF680W-Scale-Monitor-Athletic/dp/B0009V1YPU)** > > Product Description Tanita BF680 Duo Body Fat Monitor/Scale with Athletic Mode Plus Body Water Amazon.com Tanita BF680W Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor with Athletic Mode can monitor both body fat and body water... Any help, advice or recommendations you all can make will be very much appreciated. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/2 "2010-05-03T22:14:42Z")
Don’t waste your money. They’re all extremely inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/3 "2010-05-03T22:34:33Z")
I have an older-model Tanita. The weight is fairly accurate, and the body fat monitor is . . . well, not accurate, but pretty good at telling me whether I’m dehydrated. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/4 "2010-05-04T10:59:58Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Don’t waste your money. They’re all extremely inaccurate. Does it do anything that you couldn’t do by mearly weighing and measuring yourself to get your BMI? I mean, suppose someone is muscular, is the scale going to be any more accurate for them than their generic BMI? I’m thinking not. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/5 "2010-05-04T14:32:56Z")
I’d like to keep an eye as I continue to lose weight on if I am losing/gaining body fat as well as poundage. I have lost a decent amount of muscle mass as well as fat and I want to keep an eye on both. Hoping that someone who has used these things can chime in to speak on whether they work at all. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/6 "2010-05-04T15:02:44Z")
I did a little bit of internet research on them a while back. Seems they’re basically useless for measuring body fat–really only tell you how much water you’ve got in your system. Try body fat calipers instead. ---
**Author:** ![CTB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@CTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CTB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/7 "2010-05-04T18:10:09Z")
I have an older model Tanita and I actually find it very useful. Not so much to get an exact answer to body composition, but to see a trend in how I am doing in trying to improve my body composition. I recently had a BodPod analysis done, which is supposed to be about as accurate as you can get, and my Tanita was off by about 2% on the low end. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/8 "2010-05-05T05:30:33Z")
Save your money. Buy calipers. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-body-fat-monitor-bathroom-scales-please/538200/9 "2010-05-05T10:30:05Z")
Yup, they don’t work.