One Per Cent

CES: High-tech scales zero in on fat

by Peter Nowak, contributor

(Image: Peter Nowak)

As the Consumer Electronics Show wraps up in Las Vegas, Nevada, many of the 140,000-plus attendees are heading home a few pounds lighter: walking around 158,000 square metres of exhibition space for a week will do that to you.

Still, some may come away wanting to lose even more weight after seeing all of the high-tech bathroom scales at the show. From small vendors to electronics giants such as Samsung, which demonstrated a scale that can beam its results to a television, futuristic weight-watching devices were all over the place.

Tanita Corp., a small Japanese company, showed off a dozen scales ranging in price from $100 to $500. All of them incorporate Wi-Fi and transmit either to smartphone apps or computer software.

The company's higher-end scales are capable of taking up to 25 body measurements - from simple weight to body water and muscle percentages - through metal nodes the user stands on. The nodes transmit electrical signals through the body, which an algorithm uses to approximate measurements. The scales also have retractable handles that can measure arm strength.

"We believe a product like ours is beneficial in helping to achieve [weight-loss] goals because we want people to do it in a healthy way," Keith Erickson, sales manager for Tanita, told New Scientist. "You want to use something like this to tell you if you lost 10 pounds of muscle or 10 pounds of fat or water."

Weight-loss experts are divided on whether such high-tech devices can be effective. Maye Musk, a dietitian in New York, says tracking one's measurements has been found to help with weight loss.

"Any way to stay healthy is good," she says. "Keeping track of one's weight does make one more conscious of eating well and losing weight."

Gabi Rose, a weight-loss adviser in Florida, says scales that simply track weight can be dangerous, but higher-end ones can be useful.

"Our bodies tend to fluctuate daily and this could make us more obsessed with weight," she says. "Our body carries good fat and unhealthy fat and our weight alone is not a good measure of health."

http://www.newscientist.com/