How to choose a body fat meter? What is the difference between having and not having medical device certification?

Do you have a habit of weighing yourself? Especially when you are losing fat, do you care about the number on the scale? But you know what? If you want to become healthier or have a more perfect body, in addition to paying attention to your weight, you also need to refer to body fat and various body composition data. General weight machines or scales cannot see so much information, so If you want to know detailed data about your body composition, you must go through "body fat meter"To detect various basic body indexes and continuously record and track changes in your body, you can effectively control your weight and health. In this article, the editor will share with you the principles of body fat meters, the key points for selecting body fat meters, and finally, we will also recommend the best-selling body fat meters! If you are concerned about your posture, take a look below!

Myths about weight, teach you to correctly view the index of physical health

When your weight gradually increases, if you look in the mirror to evaluate it, by the time you notice the changes in your body shape, you have often unknowingly gained a few kilograms, making it even more difficult to lose weight. Therefore, it is recommended that the best assessment method is to weigh yourself every day and keep track of your daily weight changes. Moreover, the data on the scale can help us self-monitor our weight more accurately. The International Obesity Professional Journal also confirmed that regular weight measurement is a good way to ensure that you lose weight and don't gain weight again.

Losing weight means losing fat?

Weight does not equal fat, nor does it equal muscle. You need to lose fat, not weight! Our body composition can be divided into: fat and non-fat tissue. Fat includes subcutaneous fat and visceral fat; non-fat tissue mainly includes organs, bones, muscles and water. In other words, weight does not equal fat, nor does it equal muscle.

If you lose some weight, it is very likely that you are just losing water (water is easily lost). If one of two people of similar weight and height has much less muscle tissue, then the person with more muscles must have a better-looking body.

• Weight loss:It is simply a decrease in the total mass of the body, including fat, fluids, muscles, bones, and any other body tissue. During the weight loss process, muscle will be lost, and it is impossible to lose fat without losing any other tissue during the weight loss process.
• Fat loss:It refers to reducing body fat percentage, or reducing fat content.

Correctly measure waist circumference

According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the waist circumference of men should be less than 90 cm (about 35 inches) and the waist circumference of women should be less than 80 cm (about 31 inches). The correct way to measure your waist circumference is divided into the following three steps. Combined with the BMI calculation formula below, you can understand whether your posture is abnormal.

1. Remove the clothing covering your waist, stand easily, and let your hands hang down naturally.
2. Place the tape measure around your waist, adjust the height of the tape measure to the middle point between the upper edge of the intestinal bones on the left and right sides (the upper pelvic bones of the side waist) and the lower edge of the ribs, and keep the tape measure level with the ground, close to the skin without squeezing it.
3. At the end of the exhale, measure your waist circumference.

Measuring obesity is not just about weight

The World Health Organization recommends using the Body Mass Index (BMI), also known as the Quetelet index, to measure obesity. How to calculate the Body Mass Index? The formula for calculating BMI is as follows:

Body mass index (BMI) = "Weight (kg) / Height2(meter2)

Use the above BMI calculation formula to know whether you are obese? So, stop obsessing about your body’s kilograms. From today on, what you should look at is your body fat! When a person's BMI index is between 18.5 and 24, it is considered normal. If the BMI is less than 18.5, he or she is underweight; when the value is between 24 and 27, the person is overweight; when the value is between 27~30 and 30~35, respectively Mild and moderate obesity; BMI over 35 is severe obesity.

Adult obesity definition	Body mass index (BMI) (kg/㎡)	Waist (cm)
underweight	BMI<18.5
healthy posture	18.5<=BMI<24
Abnormal body posture	Overweight: 24<=BMI<27 Mild obesity: 27 <= BMI < 30 Moderate obesity: 30 <= BMI < 35 Severe obesity: BMI >= 35	Male: >= 90 cm (approximately 35 inches) Female: >= 80 cm (approximately 31 inches)

Why do you need a body fat meter?

Accurately understand body fat percentage

After understanding the measurement method and data interpretation of BMI, many people think that mastering BMI means mastering body fat. In fact, this is not the case! The most common example is "puff girls". Many girls are obviously not fat but thin, and their BMI is within the normal range. However, when the body fat is measured, the body fat is too high, and the flesh all over the body is soft. This kind of The health hazards of body fat accumulation are often ignored because they look thin by visual inspection. At this time, the limitations of BMI measurement will be mentioned. Since BMI mainly reflects the overall body weight, it cannot distinguish between adipose tissue and non-fat tissue in body weight. Adipose tissue (including muscles and organs). People of the same height and weight can calculate the same BMI, but in fact the fat mass is different. To more accurately grasp your obesity status, you actually need BMI and Body Fat % ) watch together.

Monitor data in real time and save money

Body fat rate is the ratio of fat mass to body weight. Generally, body fat rate is measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis, underwater weighing, space capsule gas replacement method, X-ray tomography, etc. Many of these methods require going to the hospital for testing. The threshold is high, the cost is high, the immediacy is low, and the measurement frequency is low. It is inconvenient to monitor at any time. Currently, the most common measurement method is bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA). ), such as professional body composition measuring machines used in physical examinations in gyms or hospitals, and household body fat meters sold on the market, all use the bioimpedance method for measurement.

Body fat meter principle

The principle of commercially available body fat meters is to use a small amount of current to pass through the human body, and then use resistance to infer body composition; since water affects conductivity, there will be errors in measurement due to environmental and dietary factors, so changes in body water content will affect Measurement results, such as heavy exercise, sweating, eating and drinking, edema, defecation and urination, these conditions will lead to large errors.

When is the most accurate time to stand on a body fat meter?

I believe that everyone is prone to encounter this problem when measuring weight: "Why are the values ​​measured different every time?" and "How to reduce the measurement error?"

People's weight fluctuates, and it may vary by about 0.8 to 1.8 kilograms (normal range) throughout the day. Every time you eat food, you gain weight, and when you go to the bathroom, you lose a little weight, so the water content in your body will affect your weight gain and loss.

If you regularly measure your weight, you will definitely find that your weight is usually the lightest after you get up in the morning and after going to the toilet. This is because the food taken the day before will be slowly digested, and the various organs of our body have rested all night. When there is no food or water, the feces and urine are also emptied, so the weight at this time is Our truest weight.

Since the principle of the body fat meter is the bioresistance method, it mainly uses the characteristics of the body's composition. Since muscles and water are easy to conduct electricity, but fat is not, it uses a small amount of current to measure the resistance value of the body, and then infers the composition of body fat. Therefore, factors that affect conductivity will affect the accuracy of measurement values, especially the following conditions:

1. after eating:When measuring body weight using body fat after eating, food in the stomach is more likely to be regarded as a high-resistance area, so it is easy to be misjudged as high body fat.
2. after exercise：This has something to do with the type of exercise being performed. Muscle training-type exercise concentrates blood on the muscles, so it will be judged by the machine as an increase in water content and muscle mass. Due to low resistance, the relative body fat is lower; but if you perform aerobic exercise that involves a lot of sweating, The results may show higher relative body fat.
3. after bathing：Taking a bath will increase blood circulation and allow more water to be distributed to the skin to stabilize body temperature, causing muscle mass and moisture to be overestimated. Because the resistance is low, the relative body fat rate will be low when measured.

You can avoid the above three situations before taking measurements. In addition, you should choose a fixed time when measuring body fat. Do not drink a lot of water, hold back your urine or sweat during strenuous exercise before measuring. Dilute your urine first. You should measure with bare feet when using it. Pregnant women and those with medical electronic equipment (such as heart rhythm regulators, etc.) or metal objects installed in their bodies should not use it. This can further reduce the error!

• Weigh your weight at a fixed time
• Do not drink a lot of water or hold in your urine before taking the measurement
• Please measure with bare feet and pay attention to the contact interface between your feet and the electrodes
• Measurement parts and postures
• empty urine
• Each measurement was taken on an empty stomach for more than three hours.
• Do not do strenuous exercise or sweat a lot

However, it should be noted that even if measured at the same time, the weight may not be exactly the same every time. Therefore, it can be measured at a fixed time and the error is not too large and can be used as reference data. Of course, the most important thing is that if you want to be healthy, you also need to have a normal schedule, regular exercise, and a healthy diet. This is the only way to go!

4 key points to choose when using a body fat meter

I don’t know if any of you are like me. You sit all the time at work, and enjoy afternoon tea, odd hours, and hand-cranked cups. During the holidays, you just want to sleep and don’t want to exercise. You eat a big meal with your friends to reward the fatigue of the week, and the cycle starts over and over again. Next, my belly seems to be getting bigger and bigger, and I find that my clothes are getting tighter and smaller, which is so scary! Long-term living and eating habits will really make us fat and geeky without realizing it. This should be a problem for many office workers and young boys and girls.

The editor has compiled the key points that you can refer to when choosing a body fat meter. However, you must also choose according to your personal budget. The more data functions a body fat meter can provide, the higher the price of the body fat meter will be.

1. There must be at least six basic indicators

More sophisticated body fat meters can measure more body values ​​and logically calculate our basal metabolism, skeletal muscle rate, body age, etc. These values ​​help us assess our health in many ways, but it should also be emphasized that these values ​​are only for For reference, since most of them are calculated by formulas, the calculation logic will be different from each manufacturer, and there will also be calculation errors. If you really want to know your physical age, etc., it is best to seek professional health examination. When choosing a body fat timer, it is recommended to include at least the following 6 basic indicators, so that you can use simple indices to set goals and monitor your changes.

• weight
• physical age
• body fat percentage
• Visceral fat level
• Body Mass Index (BMI): Weight (kg) / Height²(meter²)
• Basal metabolic rate: This is the minimum amount of calories the body needs to consume to maintain life and function properly.

2. Does it support Bluetooth transmission and App record management?

Some body fat meters can only display current data, but being able to track data regularly is our goal. Therefore, if you want to send the measurement results to the mobile app via Bluetooth for recording after each measurement, you need to choose a body fat meter that supports the APP.

The editor personally feels that the function of this body fat meter is becoming more and more important. Now that smart AIOT is becoming more and more popular, the body fat meter is one of the best products that should be connected to the Internet. Why? Because weight loss is not just a day or two, it is long-term health management. If you want to monitor your physical condition for a long time, you must observe changes in weight and body fat every day. People usually just look at it, but if the data can be automatically linked to it every day Only by storing it in the APP and presenting it in the form of data tables and charts can you clearly see body changes and trends, and you can also develop exercise plans and diet control that suit you based on the changing conditions and cycles.

3. Whether the information of multiple users can be remembered

The most correct way to use a body fat meter is to measure it regularly and record it over a long period of time in order to observe your physical condition. Nowadays, most people use APPs to connect information in series, but for families, it is obviously appropriate to record grandpa’s body values ​​and children’s body values ​​together. It has no reference value and is easily misleading, so the function of recording the body values ​​of multiple people came into being. For example, the body fat meter launched by the German brand medisana can input the age, height, weight, etc. of 8 users at the same time, and subsequently It automatically identifies the user during the measurement, records each person's body fat measurement value separately, and then displays it in a table. It is very practical to easily pay attention to the physical condition of the elders and children in the family.

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4.Does the body fat meter have medical device certification?

Because the principle of the body fat meter is to inject electric current into the human body, it is an invasive medical practice. However, as various brands innovate in body fat equipment, in order to encourage the general public to buy body fat meters for daily health management, it reduces the risk of brand manufacturers entering the market. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, after referring to international management standards, announced in December 2021 that it would revise the management scope of the "body fat meter". Among them, if it is only provided for home use or self-health management, it will no longer be managed as a medical device; and Body fat meters with medical purposes are still considered medical devices and must comply with the relevant provisions of the Medical Device Management Act, obtain a license, and be sold by legal medical device vendors.

So what is the difference between a body fat meter with medical device certification and a body fat meter without medical device certification?

Big price difference：

The biggest difference between whether a body fat meter has medical device certification is very realistic. Products that have obtained medical device certification are expensive. Because the certification process is complicated and costly, and the validity period is limited and requires repeated certification, the cost will be passed on to the product. The price will be relatively high when everyone buys it, but the government has lowered the certification threshold in order to promote the daily use of body fat meters and encourage brand manufacturers to develop more new products so that consumers can have more affordable body fat meters. You can choose a meter, so "expensive is better" may not be true when it comes to body fat meters. The most important thing is to make a choice based on whether the functions of the product are comprehensive and how to enhance our daily usage habits.

Medically certified equipment can claim medical effects and is highly reliable：

As mentioned before, the principle of body fat meter is to use microcurrent to detect body fat mass. However, the internal mechanical design and calculation formula are different among different brands. The calculation method and claimed effect of medically certified equipment are not the same. There is an objective cause-and-effect relationship under the review of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and it can be judged to be a highly accurate and reliable machine. However, the lack of a certified machine does not mean that it is inaccurate, because body fat and weight and other body values ​​​​are floating numbers, which will There is a reasonable range of variation. Uncertified machines can still give reference values ​​for body values. What everyone needs to do is long-term measurement, observation and tracking. Therefore, the data provided by body fat meters without medical certification are still a high reference. Sex, when monitoring body composition data, if there is any discomfort or abnormal value in the body, you can still seek professional diagnosis in time.