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HOW DOES THIS SAL TER SCALE W ORK?
This Sal ter sc ale u ses B IA (Bi o Imp edanc e Anal ysi s) te chnolo gy wh ich p asses a tin y
elec trical impu lse t hrou gh th e bod y to d eterm ine f at fr om lean t issue , th e ele ctrica l
impu lse ca nnot be f elt a nd is perf ectl y saf e. Conta ct wi th the body is m ade vi a sta inles s
stee l pads on t he pl atfor m of the s cale.
This meth od sim ulta neous ly c alcul ates y our pers onal w eigh t, bo dy fa t and total body
wate r givi ng y ou a more accu rat e re ading of y our o ver all heal th and fitne ss.
This scale stor es the pe rson al dat a of up to 12 us ers. As well as be ing a n anal yse r sca le,
this scale can be us ed as a con vent ional scal e.
BOD Y F A T – WHA T DOES IT MEAN?
The human body is ma de up of , a mongs t oth er th ings, a p erce ntage of f at. This is vi tal
for a hea lth y, fu nction ing b ody - it cu shion s joi nts an d pr otec ts vit al or gan s, h elps
re gulate body temp erat ure , st ores vita mins and he lps t he bo dy sus tain itsel f whe n fo od
is s carc e. Howev er , too much b ody f at or inde ed to o litt le bo dy fa t can be d amagin g to
you r hea lth. It is di cult to g auge how m uch bo dy f at we have in o ur bo dies s impl y by
look ing at our selv es i n the mirr or . This is w hy it is i mport ant t o meas ure and m onito r
you r bod y fat per centa ge. Body fat p erc entag e giv es y ou a better meas ure of fit ness
than weig ht al one – the c ompos ition of y our w eigh t loss coul d mea n you ar e los ing
musc le mas s r ather than fat - you coul d sti ll ha ve a high perc entag e of fat e ven when a
scal e indi cates ‘ no rmal w eigh t’ .
NORMAL HEAL THY RANGE OF BOD Y F A T PERCENT AGE
Body F at % Ranges for Boys*
Age Low Opti mal Mode rate High
10 ≤12. 8 12.9 - 22. 8 22.9 - 27. 8 ≥27. 9
11 ≤12. 6 12.7 - 23. 0 23.1 - 28. 2 ≥28. 3
12 ≤12. 1 12.2 - 22. 7 22.8 - 27. 8 ≥27. 9
13 ≤11. 5 11.6 - 22. 0 22.1 - 26. 9 ≥27. 0
14 ≤10. 9 11.0 - 21. 3 21.4 - 25. 8 ≥25. 9
15 ≤10. 4 10.5 - 20. 7 20.8 - 24. 9 ≥25. 0
16 ≤10. 1 10.2 - 20. 3 20.4 - 24. 2 ≥24. 3
17 ≤9.8 9.9 - 20. 1 2 0.2 - 23. 8 ≥23. 9
18 ≤9.6 9.7 - 20. 1 2 0.2 - 23. 5 ≥23. 6
Body F at % Ranges for Girls*
Age L ow Opti mal Mode rat e High
10 ≤16.0 1 6.1 - 28.2 2 8.3 - 32.1 ≥3 2.2
11 ≤16.1 1 6.2 - 28.8 2 8.9 - 32.7 ≥3 2.8
12 ≤16.1 1 6.2 - 29.1 2 9.2 - 33.0 ≥3 3.1
13 ≤16.1 1 6.2 - 29.4 2 9.5 - 33.2 ≥3 3.3
14 ≤16.0 1 6.1 - 29.6 2 9.7 - 33.5 ≥3 3.6
15 ≤15.7 1 5.8 - 29.9 3 0.0 - 33.7 ≥3 3.8
16 ≤15.5 1 5.6 - 30.1 3 0.2 - 34.0 ≥3 4.1
17 ≤15.1 1 5.2 - 30.1 3 0.2 - 34.3 ≥3 4.4
18 ≤14.7 1 4.8 - 30.8 3 0.9 - 34.7 ≥3 4.8
Body F at % Ranges for Men**
Age Lo w Op timal Mode rate Hi gh
19 - 39 ≤8 8.1 - 19.9 2 0 - 24 .9 ≥ 25
40 - 59 ≤11 11.1 - 21. 9 22 - 27.9 ≥28
60+ ≤ 13 1 3. 1 - 2 4.9 25 - 29. 9 ≥30
Body F at % Ranges for W omen**
Age Low O ptima l Mo dera te High
19 - 39 ≤21 21 .1 - 32.9 33 - 38.9 ≥39
40 - 59 ≤23 23 .1 - 33.9 34 - 39.9 ≥40
60+ ≤24 24.1 - 35.9 36 - 41 .9 ≥42
*Sour ce: De rived f rom; HD McCa rthy , T J Cole, T Fry , SA Jebb an d AM Pr entic e: “Bod y fat r efer ence c urves for chi ldren ” .
Inter national Journa l of Ob esity ( 2006) 3 0, 598 –602.
**Sou rce: D erived from; Dympna Gallag her , Ste ven B Heymsfie ld, M oonseon g Heo, Susan A Jebb, Pete r R Mur gatr oyd,
and Yoi chi Saka moto: “ Health y per centag e body f at r anges: an appr oach f or dev eloping guidel ines ba sed on body mas s
index 1–3” . Am J Cl in Nutr 2000;72 :694–70 1.
The B ody F at % r anges publishe d are for gu idance only . P rofes sional medical guidan ce shou ld alw ays be sought befor e
embar king on diet an d exer cise progr ams.
BOD Y W A TER - WHY MEASURE IT?
Body water is t he si ngle m ost i mport ant c ompone nt of body weig ht. I t r epre sents ove r
hal f of your total wei ght a nd alm ost t wo th irds of y our lean body mass ( pre domina ntl y
musc le). W ater perf orms a numb er of impo rtant rol es in the b ody:
All the c ells in the body , whe ther in th e skin , g lands, mus cles, br ain or an ywher e el se,
can only func tion p rop erly if t hey h ave enough wate r . Wat er al so pl ays a vita l par t in
re gulati ng th e bod y’s te mper atur e ba lance , pa rticul arl y thr ough pers pir ation.
The combin ation of y our weigh t and fat measu reme nt co uld a ppear to be ‘nor mal ’ but
you r bod y hy drat ion l evel could be i nsuc ient f or h ealt hy li ving.
NORMAL HEAL THY RANGE OF BOD YWA TER PER CENT AGE
Bo dy W at er Ch art ***
BF % Range Opti mal B W % Range
Men
4 to 14% 70 t o 63%
15 t o 21% 63 t o 57%
22 t o 24% 57 t o 55%
25 a nd ov er 55 t o 37%
W omen
4 to 20% 70 t o 58%
21 t o 29% 58 t o 52 %
30 t o 32 % 52 t o 49%
33 a nd ov er 49 t o 37%
***So urce: Derived from Wa ng & De urenbe rg: “ Hydra tion of fat- free body mas s” .
Ameri can Jour nal Cli n Nutr 1999, 69 833- 841.
Fo r tho se us ing A thlet e Mod e: not e tha t ath letes may have a low er b ody f at r ange and a
high er bod y wat er r ange than shown abov e, depen ding o n the ir ty pe of sport or a ctivi ty .
Body water meas ure ment r esu lts are influe nced by th e pr oport ion o f bod y fat and
musc le. If th e pr oport ion o f body fat is hi gh, or th e pr oport ion o f mus cle i s low then the
body water re sult s wil l tend to b e low . It is imp ortan t to reme mber that measur eme nts
such as bo dy w eight, bod y fat and b ody w ater are tools for you to us e as p art o f yo ur
heal thy life style. As short term fluct uation s ar e nor mal, we su ggest you chart you r
pr ogre ss ov er ti me, rat her t han f ocus on a s ingle day s re ading .
The Body W ater % ra nges publis hed a re for g uidan ce onl y . Pro fessi onal medic al
guid ance s hould alw ays be so ught befo re embark ing o n die t and ex erci se
pr ogra mmes.
CA UTION : Do n ot us e thi s pr oduct if y ou h ave a pa cemak er or othe r med ical devi ce
fitte d. I f in doubt, con sult you r doc tor .
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
How exactly is m y body fat and water being measured?
This Sal ter Sc ale u ses a measu rem ent m ethod know n as B ioele ctric al Imp edanc e
Anal ysis (BIA ). A minu te cu rren t is sent thro ugh y our body , via y our feet and l egs. Thi s
curr ent flows easil y t hrou gh th e lean musc ular tissue , w hich h as a high fluid
cont ent, but n ot ea sily thr ough fat. Ther ef ore, by measu ring your body ’s imp edanc e (i. e.
its resi stanc e to the cu rre nt), the quant ity o f musc le ca n be determ ined. F rom this, th e
quan tity of fa t and water can then be est imate d.
What is the value of the current passing thr ough me when the measurement
is taken? Is it safe?
The curr ent i s les s than 1mA, whic h is tiny and p erfec tly safe. Y o u wil l not be ab le
to f eel i t. Pl ease note howe ver , that this devi ce sho uld n ot be used by an yon e wit h
an i ntern al ele ctr onic m edica l dev ice, such as a pacem aker , as a pr ecau tion agains t
disr uptio n to t hat d evice .
If I measure my body fat and wa ter at dierent times during the day , it can
vary quite considerably . Which value is correct?
Y our b ody f at pe rce ntage rea ding varies with body water cont ent, and t he la tter c hange s
thr ougho ut th e cou rse o f the day . The re i s no right or wr ong time of th e da y to t ake a
re ading, bu t aim to ta ke me asur emen ts at a r egula r time when you consi der y our body
to b e norm all y hy drat ed. Av oid t aking rea dings afte r hav ing a bath or sa una, foll owing
inte nsive exe rci se, or wi thin 1 -2 ho urs o f dri nking in q uantit y or eatin g a me al.
My friend has a Body F at Analyser made by another manufactur er .
When I used it I found that I got a dierent body f at reading. Why is this?
Die rent Body F at Ana lys ers t ake measu reme nts a roun d di ere nt par ts of the body and
use dier ent mathe matic algor ithms to ca lcula te th e per cent age o f bod y fat.
The best a dvice is t o not make comp ariso ns fr om o ne de vice t o ano ther , but to u se the
same devi ce ea ch tim e to monit or an y cha nge.
How do I interpret m y body fat and water percentage r eadings?
Plea se r efer to th e Bod y F at an d W ate r tabl es in clude d with the prod uct. The y wil l guid e
you as t o whe ther y our body fat a nd wa ter r eadi ng fa lls i nto a heal thy categ ory
(r elativ e to your age and s ex).
GB
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