Advantages: Provides lots more information than regular weighing scales
Disadvantages: Have to weigh yourself after similar levels of activity or readings can be distorted

...Let's face it, stepping on the scales isn't much fun. They don't tell you a whole lot, but that number on the scales can make or break your mood for the day. Well, that's how it works for me. If they tell me I weigh more than they should, I protest it's down to water retention, or maybe I've developed more muscles. It's all down to guesswork. What I really needed was more information on my body composition. I wanted all the nitty gritty details that were contributing to my ever changing weight dilemmas. After reading an advert for body fat monitors one day, I decided that this was the sort of information I was after. So, after undertaking a bit of research, I bought the Tanita BC-532. Tanita is a well known brand name for weighing scales, plus the price wasn't too horrendous at around £70 at Argos. However, Argos don't appear... Read review

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Advantages: Will monitor your lard content
Disadvantages: Expensive but you could find a bargain in the sales

...Why are so many of us so obsessed about jumping onto the bathroom scales every few days? Well for me I really need to lose weight for health reasons so I need to monitor both my eating habits and weight on a regular basis. I have tried various ways of standing on the scales to make me seem to weigh less but it never works so more drastic measures are needed. Dieting seems the only way. I first saw the Tanita Body Fat Monitor/Scales in my doctor’s surgery. As I have high cholesterol and am a few stone overweight she advised I look into buying one for private use at home. She explained how a small current is passed through your body and the calculation is based on how quickly the current passes through the muscle. The correct term is Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. You cannot feel the current at all as it passes through your body... Read review

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Advantages: Calculates your body fat percentage, and can be used as conventional scales.
Disadvantages: Very expensive and can be inaccurate.

...In today’s society many people are now beginning to actively look after their health, weight and take regular exercise. If you are one of these people - then you might benefit from owning the Tanita Body Fat Monitor/Scales. These have been developed in direct response to growing concerns about fat-related illness’, which include high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and several forms of cancer. Unfortunately, unlike weight, body fat is not always visible and cannot be measured on ordinary scales. This monitor also gives you the convenience and privacy of being able to check and monitor your body fat within your own home. The Tanita Body Fat Monitor is more than just conventional scales; it can measure weight and also calculates your body fat percentage. So if you are trying to lose weight or are just keeping fit... Read review

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Advantages: Accurate Weight and Body Fat readings
Disadvantages: none at all

...How many of us don't believe what the bathroom scales tell us? You may step onto them gingerly or jump onto them quickly to take them by surprise.Or heaven forbid stand on one leg. You try various methods until you find a reading more to your liking. With the Tanita Body Fat Monitor one cannot get away with such antics, as it is a precision digital scale that can record weight in Pounds Kilograms or British Stones and Pounds. To turn the unit on you don't have to bend down and twiddle any knobs. You just use your toe to tap the weight only key on the corner of the platform. You have to step onto the measuring platform within about 30 seconds as the power shuts off automatically,just tap it with your toe again. Now you get an accurate reading of your weight. Yes you say you can get this with any Digital Scale but look... Read review

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Advantages: Body fat percent is more relevant to health than just weight
Disadvantages: None - apart from the fact that you might learn that you have to change!

.... This had to change! I bought my Tanita Body Fat Monitor / Scale TBF-611 immediately. You follow the simple instructions to enter your height and gender. When you stand on the scales with your bare feet a small electrical current is passed through your body (fat gives more resistance than lean muscle). The scales have been developed such that the information from the electrical current along with your height and gender allows them to determine your body fat percentage, they are accurate to within 1% (you can buy more expensive versions that are accurate to within 0.5%, but 1% is good enough for me). It is best to weigh yourself at the same time of day, they recommend the early evening, when you're most hydrated to get a consistent reading. I learned that a healthy body fat percentage for women is between 20 to 27%, we do need quite a lot... Read review

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Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

...For some odd reason we’ve always had weighing scales that never work, when I say never work what I mean is that they tell you the wrong amount either a couple of months to much or to less. So, when my Mum suggested we get the Tanita Body Fat Monitor I was all for it. Now weighing is so precise, you will be amazed at it’s accuracy. No more one pound out or having to put the scales in a certain direction. The measurements are recorded in Pounds, Kilograms or stones. I personally prefer stones myself. It also gives you an accurate body fat reading. Very simple to use it will no time getting used to it. Just touch the weight only key and then weigh yourself and wait for your weight. You can also measure body fat, this entails entering some details about yourself, like sex, whether you’re an adult or child, height... Read review

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Advantages: Very accurate readings for most people
Disadvantages: Bit expensive

...This is the time of year when many of us will be jumping onto our bathroom scales to check just how much weight we have put on over Christmas and jumping off again in shock! But according to the manufacturers of the Tanita Body Fat Monitor, how much we weigh is not the whole story. Someone may well be an acceptable weight, but still be carrying too much body fat, which is detrimental to their health. You see, normal scales cannot tell the difference between a pound of fat and a pound of muscle (which weighs more than fat) so it is important to know just what percentage of your weight is body fat. The Body Fat Monitor tells you your weight and then measures your percentage of body fat. How does it work? The monitor uses a method called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, which basically involves passing a very low, safe electrical... Read review

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Advantages: A DIGITAL, NO-NONSENSE WEIGH IN
Disadvantages: IT'S FAR TOO ACCURATE FOR MY LIKING

...ate quite healthy too! After that, I had to take a serious look at what I was shovelling down my throat every day. I have since managed to get it down to around 33% but I’ve still got a way to go yet. Since we bought the Tanita scales, we have spotted a few different ones on the market but they all tend to be around the same price. We're pretty happy with the product that we bought especially since the batteries have lasted so long (well over a year) but if you tend to be a bit health conscious – hence buying any type of scales in the first place – one that measures your body fat at the same time is worth that extra layout at the start.... Read review

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Advantages: Extremely easy to use. Accurate. Comparatively cheap.
Disadvantages: Those toes, those sweaty toes!

...a better picture of your overall body composition. It also helps when you lose weight to ensure it’s fat that’s being shed, not muscle. I have a Tanita, model UM-019 (list price £39.99) which offers both regular weighing and body fat analysis functions. You program it with a few details (gender, height, age) and it stores the info so that next time you can automatically bring up your profile – 2 different people can store their details but other family members can use it to by selecting the “guest” function. The body fat part works by sending a (painless!) electric current through your body briefly, and timing how long it takes to bounce back (flabby fat slows it down a lot more than toned muscle). To do th