Understanding Body Fat: How to Choose and Use a Body Fat Meter for Accurate Health Assessment

2023-07-20 10:15:07

The use of BMI to assess physical health has long been outdated. In addition to the calculation of body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat percentage are all important. BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio can all be measured with simple equipment. Body fat measurement requires more high-tech. How does a body fat meter work? Which measurement method is more accurate? And how to choose a body fat meter? The following treatment days will answer them one by one for everyone.

What is the principle of body fat meter? How to choose a body fat meter?

The BMI index can sometimes be misleading. For example, people with muscular physiques, such as bodybuilders and weightlifters, may have a high BMI, but they are not obese at all. This shows its limitations and requires a more intuitive body fat percentage to judge whether it is necessary to improve the body. But how is body fat measured?

Body fat meter uses electric current to indirectly measure body fat

The principle of a general body fat measuring instrument is to use a small amount of current to measure the biological electrical resistance (BIA) of the human body. Because the resistance of water and fat in the human body is different, the proportion of body fat can be converted through the resistance.

How to choose a body fat meter?Pay attention to 3 key points when purchasing a body fat meter


1. There must be at least 6 basic indicators

Body weight body fat percentage Body age: the age converted from the body condition according to the basal metabolic rate. Visceral Fat Body Mass Index BMI Basal Metabolic Rate: This is the minimum calorie consumption required to maintain life and normal function of various organs.


2. Is the body fat meter certified as a medical device?

Because the body fat meter will inject electric current into the human body, which is an invasive medical practice, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, after referring to international management norms, announced in December 2021 to revise the management scope of “body fat meter”. If it is only provided for home use or self-health management, it will no longer be managed as a medical device; and a body fat meter for medical use must comply with the relevant provisions of the Medical Device Management Law, and must obtain a license and be sold by a legal medical device dealer.

3. Four-point body fat meter

In the earliest body fat meter, only two soles of the feet were in contact with the part where the current was applied. Later, a four-point body fat meter was developed, which added a set of hand currents compared to the two-point type, which can reduce errors caused by uneven distribution of upper and lower body posture or moisture. It is recommended that if the budget is sufficient, it will be more accurate to buy a four-point body fat meter.

Why do you need a body fat meter?

1. Accurately understand the proportion of body fat

As mentioned earlier, just looking at the BMI index may be misleading, and a more intuitive reference value of body fat percentage is needed. The body fat meter can provide this reference, but it should be noted that the common instruments that use micro-current to measure body fat are not very accurate. If you want to know the most accurate body fat percentage and body fat distribution, you have to go to the hospital for nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI) and energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). However, such equipment needs to be paid for by oneself and is expensive, and it is impossible to measure frequently. Although the general body fat meter is not as accurate as the hospital equipment, it can be measured frequently, and there is still a certain guiding value for drawing changes in body fat.

2. Real-time monitoring of health data

The current body fat meter is not as good as measuring body fat percentage, and some can also measure visceral fat (which may not be of high reference value) and the degree of edema. These data can reflect the reference value in long-term measurement and recording. But this requires immediate and long-term records, which must rely on a body fat meter.

Reminders for the day of treatment: Knowing how to use the body fat meter is the most important

General measuring instruments use resistance, there are some things to avoid in order to maximize the accuracy:

Do not eat or drink 4 hours before the measurement, including water, empty your urine as much as possible before the measurement. Do not exercise for 12 hours before taking off the metal objects on your body. Keep your hands and feet dry during the measurement.

Finally, if there are implanted electronic products such as heart rate regulators in the body, the micro-current passing through the body during body fat measurement may cause a risk of failure, and if there are steel nails in the body that affect the current, the body fat meter will also be inaccurate. If you want to track body fat data for a long time, it is best to measure at the same time each time, and the trend chart made in this way will be more valuable for reference.

Please care about the day of treatment:BMI standard detection of obesity has blind spots, ignore body fat, waist circumference and be careful to become invisible puff people

Have a good chat and heal your healthy life

source:Drug and Food Safety Weekly Report of the Ministry of Health Service No. 894

Image source: 123RF

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