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Reply	George says: Easy peasy. It measures electrical resistance through the body. Note that these can easily be fooled by drinking a couple of liters of water! Apart from your weight going up a couple of kilos the increase in water decreases the resistance of your body!George Oommen, Oxford University  (no votes) Tags: technology, animals, human body.
	posted on 2008-11-27 05:06:00 | Report abuse

Reply	JohnHenry says: Electrical impedance devices to measure body fat are commonplace. They are easily misled as stated by George. At certain frequencies, fat is very resistive to electricity. The resistance tells you the quantity of fat, and the machine calculates your percentage body fat based on your mass (that's why they are often added to weighing scales). So, if you try to appear lighter by not drinking water before measuring, or if you measure your fat after sweating a lot (like at the gym)you are dehydrated and your whole body appears more resistive, thereby over-estimating your fatness.  (no votes) Tags: technology, animals, human body.
	posted on 2008-11-30 01:04:00 | Report abuse

Reply	kmartin says: Basically it measures body fat by passing a current through your body and measuring the resistance, or the time taken to go up one leg and out the other.The higher resitance, or longer time, the more fat there is present in your body.  (no votes) Tags: technology, animals, human body.
	posted on 2008-12-01 22:02:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Mike Jones says: Further to previous posts, I also assume there must be an algorithm used to estimate the body fat level from the resistance measurement, since fat is not equally distributed around the body and the current will take the shortest route from one foot to the other. This would also explain why my set of body-fat scales require the user to specify their height amp; gender.Mike Jones, Brussels  (no votes) Tags: technology, animals, human body.
	posted on 2008-12-10 15:38:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Dave T says: Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or professional scientist. "How does this work?" It doesn't. There are too many variables for a simple device like to that to be accurate. An easier method: if you're worried enough about your body fat to have it tested, you probably have too much.  (1 vote) average rating:5 Tags: technology, animals, human body.
	posted on 2008-12-13 17:21:00 | Report abuse

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