Pharmacy Blood Pressure and Body Fat % Machines

donjtomasco wrote: »

So how accurate are the machines in the pharmacy where you sit down and press the palms of your hands on top of 3 metal strips that measures your body fat %?

These use Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (bia) to measure body fat. They work by sending an electrical pulse and measuring the resistance in your body.

They are wildly inaccurate depending on how hydrated/dehydrated you are. Also on the time of day/whether you've eaten or not/etc.

They have been 5-12% off for me in the same day.

I teach a hypertension community class and the general consensus on the pharmacy blood pressure machines is they aren't that accurate. They aren't terribly off, but because they're a "one size fits all" machine depending on your size it may not do well for you. Generally cuffs are adjustable and you can tighten them to the right tightness you need, and come in different band sizes depending on arm circumference.

If you're concerned about BP there are some monitors you can buy for home, usually $40-80 is about the range they go for. And of course you get your BP taken whenever you go to the doctor so assuming you do your annual checkups you should have an idea of your BP already.

No idea on the body fat % machines, never used one at a pharmacy before. I think calipers are a good way to do a rough body fat estimate if you aren't able to do a super exact measurement like a bodpod/water displacement/etc

donjtomasco wrote: »

I went to my gym and used the scale that has the metal that you stand on to measure body fat% with weight. The pharmacy one was 8% less. I don't think either is very reliable.

Yep, like i said they both use the same thing to measure (bia) and it will vary depending on how hydrated you are, when you do it, etc.