The Truth About Body Composition Accuracy

Analysis of body composition was developed over 50 years ago when Dr. Albert Behnke, a U.S. Navy doctor, first discovered that dunking a person in a tank of water, and measuring their "underwater" weight, provided information about how much fat and muscle a person had on their body.

The new "high-tech" commercial methods of body composition testing use methods such as "bioelectrical impedance". The methods can be expensive, have questionable accuracy, and provide too little information. You really have to travel to a health club or university laboratory and have a trained expert do an evaluation. Skin fold calipers, although inexpensive, can be difficult to use. There is often much error in making the measurements and are only as accurate as the operator is diligent.