Eli5. At home scales that measure Body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat etc etc. How do they work and how accurate are they?
In: Technology
“When you step on the scale, a small electrical current runs up through your leg and across your pelvis, measuring the amount of resistance from body fat.
Then, the sensors in the scale measure the level of resistance that the current met as it travels back through your other leg.
Depending on the type of body fat scale you have, the information can link up to your smartphone or smartwatch, as well as any fitness apps you might have.
As a rule of thumb, greater body resistance means a higher fat percentage. This is due to the fact that fat contains less water than muscle, so it’s more difficult for a current to travel through it.”
This is directly copied from [this site](https://www.healthline.com/health/body-fat-scale-accuracy#how-they-work) and I found it pretty accurate according to the training I have received about biometric devices when I used to work in a nursing home.
The accuracy is really dependent upon comparison to other metrics, and, from my experience, readers that provide sensors for the hands and feet tend to give a more complete reading, simply because the current travels through more of the body. As with many non-professional medical devices, by itself it is not going to give a complete picture of anything, but combined with other data, can help provide a larger, if incomplete, picture of health.
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