[OldDragon (OP)]

I am intrigued by the results I have been getting from a hand held 'Body Composition Monitor' that I bought yesterday.  (On offer @ £4.99p each from Lloyds Pharmacy at this present time.) I though it might prove useful for the experiments I'm currently doing to try and improve my present state of decrepitude. []

Last night I got the following readings from it:

Body fat: 49.6%; Body Water 35.1% and Body Muscle 47.3%!

Can anyone explain how these machines are supposed to work, please? How can one end up with a total percentage that exceeds 100%?

What - apart from the fact that I am clearly obese  [] - do these readings mean? (I am 56 years old, have limited mobility, am 5'6" tall, large boned - i.e. I have a hand span of 9" and take size 9 shoes  [] ), and weighed 15st 2lbs when weighed last week. I believe my ideal weight should be around 10st.)

What would be the ideal readings to aim to achieve when using one of these monitors, please?

[OldDragon (OP)]

I have learned that these monitors pass a mild electric current through the body and due to the double contact electrode points. However, what is the significance of the body water reading? Mine is consistently around 35%, but my son's around 50%. He is 29 years old and his body fat reading around 28% and body muscle 72%.

How can these machines get such results, and what is the significance of body water & the considerable variation?

[Karen W.]

I am still waiting to hear about the water....

I couldn't find one of these but did find a scale that is supposed to do all that also.

[Ian Scott]

£4.99p

Maybe we get what we pay for!

Enjoyable post though

[Bored chemist]

Re. the original question (and title of the thread). Is there any evidence that these things do actually achieve an accurate result?
As a crude (in both senses) experiment, can it tell if your bladder's full or not?