If you are currently shopping for a scale for home use, and are not quite sure whether a straightforward digital bathroom weight scale is good enough, or if you should go ahead and buy a body composition monitor scale, I understand your dilemma.
Not too long ago, I faced the exact same problem and did a lot of research on it. I share the wisdom I found in this article and hopefully by the end of it, you will have a clear idea which type of scale - digital bathroom weight scale of body composition monitor scale - works better for you.
There is no one size fits all answer. The points below are meant to guide you into thinking through this for you and your family's needs. In the end, you will have a tailored answer that works best for your needs.
Digital Bathroom Weight Scale vs. Body Composition Monitor Scale
A body weight scale measures the weight of a person, which is the traditional function of a home bathroom scale. In the last two decades, however, these appliances scales have evolved beyond measuring body weight.
Body composition monitor scales or body fat analyzer scales come with additional functions for monitoring a variety of health and fitness indicators, such as body fat measurements and other measurements like body water percentage, basal metabolic rate, bone mass index and so forth.
Health And Fitness Goals
First of all, do you have any defined health and fitness goals beyond losing weight? Or do you see the importance of defining your health and fitness goals beyond just tracking the body weight measurement?
Bathroom weight scales are great for telling the weight of a person, which is a very important health indicator by itself. But some health practitioners say it is not enough anymore. Some people are known to weigh normally but have an abnormally high body fat percentage levels. In those cases, it would be good to manage and keep track of body composition or body fat percentage levels as well.
Ease Of Use
You also want to get a bathroom scale that is easy to use. Some people have reported that they've bought body composition scales in the past, only to keep them in the closet and not use them because they are difficult to set-up.
All the extra metrics of a body composition monitor scale is wonderful but if you do not use it in the end, what good can it do for you? In contrast, most bathroom weight scales are a lot easier to use.
If you feel compelled by the proposition of a body fat analyzer scale but are not sure about the level of difficulty to set things up, here's one suggestion. There are such scales that offer a weight only mode, alongside all the body fat analyzer features. You can get started on using the scale like any other bathroom scale and test out its accuracy. The other features can be adopted over time.
Pregnant Women Or Pace Maker Wearers
Body fat analyzer scales work by way of passing a very slight electrical current through the body of the user. The technology is called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. While the electrical current is really weak, manufacturers advice that pregnant women and people wearing electrical medical devices like pacemakers should not use these scales.
Which Is Better For Home Use?
To summarize, the choice of whether to choose a digital bathroom weight scale or a body composition monitor scale is dependent on your health and fitness goals and if you will find the product easy enough to use so that you will use it over and over again. For this, it may serve you to well to check out additional reviews on various models to get a better understanding. Lastly, do not forget the consideration that if you are pregnant or wear any type of medical electrical devices, body composition scales are not suitable at all.
