Body Composition & Nutritional Analysis

TRACK AND MONITOR FITNESS PROGRESS

Seca’s body composition analyzers are the only bio-impedance analyzers that have been medically & clinically validated to EACH gold standard reference method for the body composition parameters of fat, muscle, and water. These validations are transparently published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, European Journal of Obesity, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Research etc. among others.

Seca is the only company using the 4-Compartment model (research gold standard) to validate Fat mass/Fat Free Mass. The 4 Compartment model consists of (Air Displacement ie. Bod Pod, DXA, Weight, Total Body Water). This is critical because the 4-C method takes into account the biological variability of water, while other companies have fixed hydration rates in their reference equations (Calipers, DXA etc). In addition to that, this is the only device that validates Skeletal Muscle Mass & Visceral Adipose Tissue to the whole body multi slice MRI showing 97% accuracy.

Keep in mind that there is no globally accepted bf% cut-off values. Most publications refer exclusively to fat mass derived by DXA/Caliper/Air Displacement which makes it difficult to compare the BF% from a bioimpedance test from Seca into what your mind thinks about with a caliper measurement.

For random reference, if someone is 8% on a caliper measurement, they’ll be around 11-12% on the Seca machine. This is because we are measuring more than the subcutaneous fat of a caliper measurement. We are able to measure the water accurately and visceral fat which is not measured on the other machines you’re comfortable with. All technologies from caliper, DXA, Bod Pod, Bioimpedance will also produce a 4-5% difference in results, but what’s important is the delta’s and changes in body composition that the devices can pick up.

Body composition scan measures

  • Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Index by DXA
  • Body Composition Chart
  • Body Mass Index
  • Fat Mass Index

  • Fat Mass Percentage

  • Fat-Free Mass Index

  • Hydration Levels
  • Segmental Skeletal Muscle Mass

  • Skeletal Muscle Mass over Age