Americans became obsessed with their weight in the 1980s when obesity became a national crisis. Ever since, people have been investing in various ways of monitoring their weights and companies that manufacture body fat scales have been making money like never before. Obesity is still a national crisis today in America. But is it not the only thing, other issues have come up related to weight. Anorexia, the opposite of obesity, also became a thing. Besides these two extremes, people still monitor their weights for various other reasons like pregnancy, whether they are the right weight for particular sporting activities, whether they are thin or succulent enough to please a certain individual of romantic interest, and the list goes on.
Body fat scales have been around for decades now and with the rapid advancement of technology, their features and capabilities have also increased. You will find various devices out there with features you never even thought could be found in them. Below are some of the most interesting features you will find in body fat scales today.
Apps
The current world is the age of the internet of things. Almost everything is connected today. In fact, Google is working on a way of ensuring that every inch of the earth has Wi-Fi connectivity. Perhaps a decade or two later, there may even be Wi-Fi on the moon. This is also the age of smartphones, smartwatches, smart TVs, and smart body fat scales.
A body fat scale today can come with its own app that enables you to monitor your weight on your smartphone, computer, or smartwatch. Most of these apps are user-friendly and intuitive.
There are body fat scales that are only compatible with the app they came with. This means other third-party health apps won’t work with them. Conversely, there are those that are compatible with third-party health monitoring apps like Fitbit, Google Fit, Apple Health, or MyFitnessPal.
Data Presentation
The fact that body fat scales come with apps today means that they can also present information about your health in more interesting ways than the LCD screens most of them used to have. They can present information in more graphical and visually pleasing ways. Today, you can get data in pie charts, bar charts, tables, or lists if you prefer. This is particularly convenient because some of these apps will keep a record of how you are progressing with weight loss. A declining line graph is particularly motivating to look at compared to looking at the record of readings you’ve been taking down on your counter book over the past few weeks or months.
Multi-User Support
Using the apps that come with these devices, various users can keep track of how they are doing weight-wise. There are devices that support 4 users, others eight users, and others an unlimited amount of users. The apps that are linked to these devices are smart enough to determine when a certain user is using the device and update their record accordingly. This is a particularly useful feature when the entire family is using the device.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Support
Whenever you are discussing apps, chances are that Wi-Fi has to be involved somehow. Body fat scales today support Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth. This is how you link the device to its associated app or other third party apps. This is also how they are able to keep records and update a user’s information accordingly.
Versatility or Multi-Purpose Scales
There are body fat scales that are multi-purpose or versatile, if you may. These devices today can measure:
- BMI (Body Mass Index)
- Overall Weight
- Heart Rate
- Bone Mass
- Air Quality
- Temperature
- Metabolic Age
- Calorie Intake
- Physique Rating
- and more
Various Modes
Body fat scales also come with various modes. In fact, there are some that are not suitable for pregnant women or those with pacemakers. That also means that there are those that are suitable for people in different situations. You will find body fat scales with the following modes:
- Baby Mode
- Athlete Mode
- Pregnancy Mode
- Guest Mode
- Adult Mode
- And other modes that are yet to be included
Auto-Calibration
They can also recalibrate automatically; this means that if different people were to use the device in succession, none of them will have to set the device to do whatever they want it to. The instance each of them steps on the device, it will automatically make the necessary adjustments and measure whatever is required of it by the individual using it.
The above are some of the most convenient features you’ll find on the body fat scales of the modern world. Now you have some features to look for if you are contemplating purchasing one or upgrading the one you already have.