How do body fat analysis scales calculate body fat % for women?
Men and women store fat differently. (the differences are due to different activity habits, NOT genetic tendencies, so it isn’t odd that your scales measure you more accurately ‘as a man’ if you are just as active as ‘the average man’) Some of these scales use an electrical signal that passes from the front to the back of your foot (basically, measuring the fat/wet characteristics of your foot). The fat pad in the bottom of your foot does vary, but mainly relates to your bodyweight (it’s an impact cushion). Even adjusting for average size differences, women usually have smaller feet per bodyweight than men, so their fat pad will often be thicker to compensate for more concentrated pressure on the ground. this difference needs to be incorporated in the calculation. Some scales pass a signal from one foot to the other. This signal goes up your leg and down the other, so it should be able to measure a response in your whole lower body. Because women generally store more fat in their lower
