Scales with Body Fat

I've done no research on this, but I believe there are scales that also measure body fat percentage. Are they any good? Years ago I read that the only accurate way to measure body fat was by being weighed in a huge tub of water. Has that changed? Any reommendations?

I think the scale you are talking about is the one that gives you your body mass index(BMI). That will give you an idea but not exactly. If you want to know for sure then you will need to talk to your doctor or a dietican.

In the comics this morning in Real Life Adventures it talked about the body fat scales:

Man: Look at this new scale I got us. It not only tells your weight, it tells you your percentage of body fat.
Woman: Gee, how handy. First it makes you depressed, then it makes you suicidal.

I've got some of these - mine are made by Tanita. They're supposed to be pretty accurate, although I personally think mine can't possibly be correct!

I guess the best use for them is to monitor the changes, because even if the absolute number isn't 100% accurate, they'll be directionally correct.

LOL.

Body fat scales are not as accurate as the submersion tests, but a lot more practical. Besides, they are directionally accurate as Lucybell33 said. They have one at my gym and they say it isn't as accurate as the pinch tests (where they measure your fat by pinching you in different places), but I think it is more accurate.

We have a scale that measures body fat as well as weight and it seems to work fairly well. I don't know about the accuracy, I guess, but the comment that the trend is the useful information seems logical to me. The body fat measurement is sensitive to how much water you have in/on your body. So, if you're dehydrated it'll look like you have a higher percent of your weight in body fat and if you are well hydrated or just got out of the shower and have wet hair, your body fat percent measure is lower.

One thing I wondered about... if you are losing weight but your body fat percentage stays the same, are you losing fat? For example, 25% of 150 pounds is 37.5 pounds, which is more than 25% of 130 pounds (32.5 pounds), right? Unless my math is wrong (which is quite possible), it seems like you'd be losing fat even if the percent doesn't change. I find that my percent of body fat has gone down a bit over the past few months --but not by much-- even though I've continued to lose weight. So, it has become a less meaningful measure to me--I kind of ignore it.

I have this Omron HBF-400 . I forget how I got to it but I remember having concluded that it had the best bang for the buck. Check the comments (but watch the model no. as sometimes the reviews refer to the 500 model). I will say that as a bathroom scale it's the most accurate I've had. I wouldn't spend too much on one of these as they do have a reputation of not being perfect on the body fat functions and you might find that after a while you won't use them as much as you thought you would.

Bonus:
If you want an incredibly accurate pedometer, easy to use, inexpensive, and with a seven day memory, order the Omron HJ-112 along with the scale and save on the freight. Omron is a preferred brand for measuring blood pressure among doctors and is quite well known for it's reliability of it's products.

Thanks for the information and experiences!

By the way, I forgot to mention that the pedometer I mentioned above received Consumer Report's top ranking.