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Tanita Duo User Body Fat Scale

This Tanita scale uses advanced technology to detect body fat% in 0.5% increments found in the prof. body composition analyzers used by medical centers, weighs upto 300 lbs in 0.2 lb increments, and has duo memory (ADDITIONAL S/H RATES APPLY)

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$43.00/scale

Tanita's Scale Plus Body Fat Monitors Weigh In Above the Competition
in The Wall Street Journal May 17, 2002, Coverage

Tanita's scale plus body fat monitors were featured as "Best Value" and "Best Overall" in The Wall Street Journal May 17, 2002, coverage: "Catalog Critic: The Scale That Knew Too Much" as the result of media relations outreach. The Wall Street Journal is the largest daily newspaper in the United States with a circulation of nearly 2 million readers. Tanita's BF 558 and BF 626 scale plus body fat monitors received extensive, positive coverage, including an endorsement over the competition. Coverage was also included in The Asian Wall Street Journal.

Coverage notes that Tanita is "the biggest name in the business and the maker of almost two dozen home and pro body-fat monitors." Five scales, including Tanita's BF 626 and BF 558 models, were compared to the Bod Pod for accuracy. In the testing process, "The final two scales came closest to the Bod Pod measurements every time. And they performed almost identically, which made sense--they were the two Tanita models." Tanita models were the top picks due to their precision, ease in programming and use. The BF 626 was awarded "Best Value" among competing models, while the BF 558 earned "Best Overall."

Fleishman-Hillard, Tanita Corporation's public relations agency, secured Tanita coverage in the "Catalog Critic: The Scale That Knew Too Much" article by providing The Wall Street Journal reporter Lisa Kalis with information on Tanita's scale plus body fat monitors, the importance of body fat monitoring, and an explanation of how Tanita's models determine body fat. All other manufacturers included in coverage also provided Kalis with product information.

Tanita is dedicated to public education regarding the importance and benefits of body fat monitoring, and The Wall Street Journal article is only one example of the outstanding coverage recently garnered by Tanita. In the past year alone, Tanita's consumer products were included in more than 220 magazine and newspaper articles and television segments, including Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Self, Fitness Magazine, InStyle, Men's Fitness and Time. These placements resulted in outreach to more than 73 million consumers. As seen in The Wall Street Journal coverage, media outreach is supported by the superior quality, performance and value of Tanita's products.

OH, THE HUMILIATION. After a long winter of comfort food, we just bought our first bathing suit of the season. Let's just say we chose Victorian over Victoria's Secret.

It's time to face the fat--electronically. While any old bathroom model can measure your weight, a newer generation of scales can also calculate your body's percentage of fat. Sure, ignorance may be bliss when it comes to taking your "fat quotient," but knowledge is power: High percentages of body fat are associated with heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. (Generally, women's body fat should be under 30%, and men's under 20%.)

While taking body-fat readings used to require sessions at a doctor's office or dunk tank, now scales with prices starting at around $50 can deliver the news at home. Using a method called bioelectrical impedance analysis, they send a low-level electric current through your legs--don't worry, it won't hurt a bit--and a few seconds later, your percentage appears on the screen.

For our own trial of body-fat scales, we searched medical, fitness and lifestyle Web sites and picked one model from each of the four brands that we turned up. To make it an even five, we ordered a second model by Tanita, the biggest name in the business and the maker of almost two dozen home and pro body-fat monitors.

Then, time for some weight lifting: We lugged our picks over to the nutrition research center at Tufts University in Boston, where nutrition scientist Megan McCrory helped us judge them against a more professional standard.

That would be the Bod Pod--a 5-foot tall, egg-shaped chamber that uses air displacement to calculate body fat. After donning our modest new suit, we sat in the chamber ("Mork calling Orson ... ") for a few minutes, then compared the reading to those from each scale. We also recruited two brave testers--Tufts Ph.D. candidates Mel Ona and Nancy Howarth--to do the same. That gave us a pretty good sample: Our ages ranged from 29 to 60, and our body fat levels spanned the spectrum, too.

The good news: The scales got our weight right--all were within half a pound of our official weight. But the body-fat results were more disappointing. The $80 Terraillon scale, from Lifestyle Fascination, varied 7.5 percentage points on average from the Bod Pod's numbers, in one case giving a 15.8% reading for someone with 25.1% fat. (Flattery goes a long way with us, but not from a scale.)

The Taylor model, $58 from WalMart, was similarly wide of the mark. Plus, we had to keep looking at the user's manual to figure out how to program it. (All of these scales require some data entry, because they use your age, gender and height to calculate the final result.)

Next up was the $60 Thinner Resolve from Bed Bath & Beyond. Although it was nearly as far from our "true" reading as the others, it was more user-friendly, with instructions printed on the flap that covers the programming buttons. We liked its clean design, too.

The final two scales came closest to the Bod Pod measurements every time. And they performed almost identically, which made sense--they were the two Tanita models. Still, they weren't perfect, and they weren't wrong in just one direction. For one subject, they gave a reading six percentage points too low; for the other two, they were three and four percentage points too high.

So what gives? After all that talk about fat, we learned that technically, that's not what these scales are measuring. They're checking your tissue's resistance to electricity--muscle contains more water than fat does, so electricity runs more quickly through muscle--and using the results to calculate body fat. The final reading can vary depending on whether you've just exercised, showered, eaten or downed lots of water. While manufacturers say that none of these models will give you an exact reading, they say the scales do provide a fair estimate and are good for tracking changes in your body-fat levels.

For that, we'd pick the Tanita models, which were easy to program and use. For $90 from QuickMedical, the Tanita BF-626 stores data on as many as two users and comes with an athlete mode for those who work out 10 hours a week or more. It's our Best Value.

Best Overall goes to the $150 Tanita BF-558 from BodyTrends.com. It has a larger display, and throws in more features like a four-person memory and a daily calorie recommendation. Plus, it even tells you the difference in pounds from the last time you stepped on. We'd be scared of a scale much smarter than that.

What do you get when you combine more than 50 years of precision measurement expertise, the innovative leader in body fat monitors and a diverse new line of bath scales?

Tanita Corporation of America is leveraging its body fat monitor success with the launch of a full-line bath scale program for 2002.

Tanita is unveiling some 15 new bath scale models, including analog, digital and solar-powered designs. The new bath scales are to cover a retail pricepoint range from about $7.99 to $44.99.

In addition, Tanita continues to expand and update its line of electronic body fat monitors.

Explaining Tanita's full-line bath scale strategy, Jeff Kahn, vp of consumer sales, said Tanita, through its aggressive body fat monitor development and promotion, has earned a strong trade and consumer reputation for precision measurement.

"We offer significant experience to deliver a comprehensive good-better-best strategy in the bath scale category," said Kahn. "Our new program satisfies all the bath scale needs of today's retailers and consumers."

New bath scales from Tanita combine the latest in sleek design with such valuable features as easy-to-read dials and digital displays, handles for portability, digital memory and weight measurement up to 330 pounds.

The Tanita brand's appeal as a full-line scale supplier has been boosted by the company's national consumer promotion and advertising strategy in support of its always expanding body fat monitor line. Tanita advertising targets female consumers, the primary purchasers of household products.

"This brand has validity across the board in this category," Kahn said, noting that Tanita can develop retail scale programs for a full spectrum of retailers--from mass merchants and drug chains to specialty and department stores.

Pricepoints on the expanded Tanita body fat line will range from about $49 to $159.

The company's body fat scale collection showcases such features as a Healthy Range Indicator, which compares body fat results to the healthy range standards. Step-up models include Daily Caloric Intake (DCI), which calculates how many calories the user may consume per day to maintain current weight.

The Tanita brand is synonymous with precision weight and health measurement--not just to leading retailers across the nation, but to consumers, as well.

Tanita built the U.S. body fat monitor market with the help of a consistent, dynamic consumer promotion and advertising strategy, and with strong support from retail distribution.

"We've been advertising our body fat monitor line to our end-user for five years, and we've built tremendous brand equity in this business," said Jeff Kahn, vp of consumer sales for Tanita Corporation of America. "A lot of people think of Tanita when they think of body fat monitors. That consumer recognition gives us a lot of leverage as we introduce a full line of bath scales."

In addition to a steady run of national print advertising in consumer magazines, Tanita also has advertised its body fat monitors on national cable television and radio.

The company's awareness among health- and fitness-minded consumers has been further solidified by a multifaceted sponsorship and public relations program.

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