How off can those body fat measuring scales be?

tomatoey

A friend of mine let me set up a profile on his bf scale (don't know what kind it is, it was expensive). Consistently measures me at a scary number suggesting obesity. (Currently: 142 lbs, 5'7). I agree that I'm carrying too much body fat and am sure a caliper would put me pretty high up there, but this number is high!

I know they're off for a range of reasons (water, only measure lower body, etc). Could they be off by e.g. 10% consistently?

StaciMarie1974

They can be way off. From what I understand they rely heavily on the level of moisture in the body. So whether you're dehydrated vs. well hydrated will have an impact.

My scale tracks BF%. It now shows me 9-10% BF most days. I don't believe in this number, but I believe that over the past year the # has gone down. The trend is what I follow.

Liftng4Lis

At 142 and 5'7, you are not obese, therefore you already have your answer: not accurate

shmulyeng

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

The trend is what I follow.

Agree. I don't think they're accurate at all. I just use it to track progress.

queenliz99

I use it for trends as well. When I'm dehydrated my body fat reading will drop.

Hornsby

I have stood on one that has told me 7% and then 10 seconds later told me 27%. (I'm around 12-13 I think). So, I would say yes, they can be wildly inaccurate.

TimothyFish

At 5'7" 142, you aren't even considered overweight.

tomatoey

TimothyFish wrote: »

At 5'7" 142, you aren't even considered overweight.

BMI-wise, that's true. I have lost a lot of lean mass through inactivity over the past year, though, at the same time that I've gained weight (and that weight sure isn't muscle).