An ordinary scale can tell you your weight, but what does that say about your health - not whole a lot. In order to give you better idea of what your weight really means in terms of your overall health, there are body fat monitor scales that not only look at your weight, but how much of that weight is fat. Indeed, one of the most popular brands of body fat monitor/ scales is Tanita. They offer such combo scales that "provide detailed body composition analysis: weight, impedance, body fat %, body mass index, fat mass, fat-free mass and more." These numbers give you a much better idea of your general health than the singly weight number you get with regular scales.

The Tanita body fat monitors work by sending a safe, low-level electrical pulse (50 kHz) through the body, that you won't even feel. The scale has a easy to read digital screen that displays body-fat measurements in 1% increments and weight in either 0.2 pound or 0.1 kilogram increments, with a max of 600 pounds or 136 kilograms. The body fat scale is capable of storing information about two individuals. The information may be accessed by tapping a button and then stepping on the scale. The scale, of course, will then give you your weight, followed by the additional body-fat composition as a percentage. The devices are the size of a standard scale and come with a 3 year warranty.

Here is some brief information about the different Tanita body-fat monitor scales currently available.

BC-418 Segmental Body Composition Analyzer/Scale

"The addition of hand grips to our standard platform-based electrode system allows the BC-418 to calculate regional body composition, empowering healthcare professionals to better determine health risk associated with visceral and abdominal fat. Tanita is proud to introduce a significant improvement to the calculation of Basal Metabolic Rate. Instead of simply relying on weight, age and gender, Tanita's proprietary formula takes into account Fat Free Mass, providing a higher level of accuracy compared to current BMR formulas."

TBF-410GS Body Composition Analyzer/Scale

"The TBF-410GS determines body composition accurately in less than ten seconds. This unit features a column-mounted display with a built-in thermal printer, and built-in casters for easy mobility. As on all our GS models, the Goal Setter feature calculates the amount of fat mass to be lost or gained in order to achieve a pre-selected target body fat percentage."

TBF-310GS Body Composition Analyzer/Scale

"For high capacity, all-in-one body composition monitoring, look to the TBF-310GS. The 600-lb capacity weight scale and oversized platform offer flexibility in body size. It also features the same Goal Setter and "foot-to-foot" BIA technologies as our other body composition analyzer/scales."

TBF-300GS Body Composition Analyzer/Scale

"Tanita's best-selling body composition analyser offers the same measurements value as the TBF-410GS but in a potable design. Separate display head can be placed on adesktop in or out of the subjects view."