Dec 6, 2023

If there’s one thing my wife does first thing of a morning is to step onto a pair of scales, because she’s always conscious of her health and wellbeing, me I’m not so conscious, as I am most probably going to be exposed for indulging too much. Recently I took home a set of the new Withings Smart Body Comp scales that my wife actually loves because it delivers a lot more information than the average scales including body composition, vascular age, visceral fat, and nerve health on top of your weight. Whether you are young and worried about your lifestyle, or ageing and need to take greater care of your body these scales deliver data that could well be an early warning system that saves you a lot more than money. Apart from an excellent set of scales, you also get an app, which delivers information on programs workouts and meal suggestions to cajole you toward a healthier life which is why I am focusing this more on information that my wife is most likely to respond to. While I was initially happy to hop onto the scales butt naked in the hope that my weight had mysteriously changed overnight, downward of course, I suddenly started to realise via app prompts and information on the screen that I suddenly needed to take notice of what the Withings scales and app were telling me. By default, the Body Comp feature reveals your weight, but it also delivers information on your weight trends which at this time of the year is more up than down with me while delivering information on key body vitals. There is also the issue of your fat mass, muscle mass, visceral fat, heart rate, pulse wave velocity, vascular age, and a nerve health score being revealed, and this is where it gets a tad scarry. You suddenly realise that these are no ordinary scales that are frighteningly accurate as they measure and deliver information on your body mass and your body water percentage. They are also a heads up information system that delivers key lifestyle data by simply stepping on them. And if you are like me ageing, you also get some useful information on your bone mass, which if you have to get tested at a clinic, is going to cost you three quarters of the price of the $359 cost for the Withings Body Comp Scales which come in Black. While these scales are very good due in part to Withings having manufactured scales for several decades, it’s important that you place your feet in the centre, and that you stand very still while also giving the scales time to kick in and measure your weight. A failure to do this can be a little sobering when the wrong weight comes up and you have suddenly put on three kilos overnight. The first thing I did with these scales was to connect them to my home Wi Fi network this eliminates the need for having to have a smartphone nearby which is often the case with a cheap pair of scales. I also downloaded the Withings app which is well designed and packed with measurement capability due in part to the use of a solid processor in the scales that appears to be more advanced than ones we have found in other sets of scales. The Withings Health Mate app is extremely good as are the apps for their watches, having said that my wife’s Withing watch has started losing time and despite resets and fresh downloads of the app the problem has not gone away. What I like about the app is the way that it charts your weight over time which can be both a good and bad thing depending on your expectations. For those who are fussy, you can customise the scale display to show you the information you want of a day. When I first got these scales, I immediately started to question what visceral fat is, and how on earth do you measure nerve health. After a little bit of research, I found that visceral fat is belly fat found deep within your abdominal cavity. It surrounds important organs, including your stomach, liver, and intestines. I’m told it’s different than subcutaneous fat, which is fat just below your skin. Visceral fat is actually more dangerous to your health which is why daily measurement is important. As for nerve measurement these scales deliver information on nerve conduction velocity. This is often referred to as an (NCV) test or nerve conduction study (NCS. In essence it measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through your nerve system. the information is gleaned from the sweat glands in your feet, with the app delivering a score out of 100. With the new Withings scales you should be able to get an early update on any potential nerve damage. While this sounds complicated these scales and the integrated app take away the complexity often associated with this type of measurement. The inclusion of pulse wave velocity metric technology allows the scales to measure the speed at which heartbeat-generated waves move along your arteries, with lower results indicating that your heart is ticking along pretty well. Conclusion If I was Medibank or any other health fund, I would be cutting a deal with Withings to get these scales into the hands of customers, as they are a serious motivator to look after your health and more so, the flow of information on key elements of your body that are vital today in keeping one fit and healthy today especially in a stressful world where a sudden RBA rate rise can lead to both mortgage and heart rate stress. They always say that data is key when it comes to decision making, and what these scales do is provide you with data every time you step on to them. These scales are not some fad Chinese scales that have bells and whistles health features that don’t deliver. The design is good, the scales well-built and the data it delivers is an excellent motivator when it comes to living a healthy life. Key Features Automatic recognition for up to 8 users Body Insights – Visceral fat, lean mass Vascular assessment and heart rate Nerve health assessment