Hydrostatic weighing, also known as underwater weighing, is a method of measuring body density and body fat percentage. It involves being weighed underwater and is considered the best method for accuracy. However, it is expensive and not often covered by health insurance. Other options include skin fold tests.
Estimating your weight on a standard scale doesn’t always provide an accurate measure of your body’s health. Because a high body fat percentage can significantly affect your health, hydrostatic weighing can be used to measure not in pounds but in body density. This method, also called underwater weighing, involves weighing under water. It’s not a particularly complex form of weighing, but it does require you to be completely immersed in water for a few seconds. Those who have a significant fear of being completely underwater should probably forego this test.
Before the person is weighed underwater, they are usually weighed on land. Lung volume measurements should also be made so that accurate calculations can be made during the test. Errors in these measurements can lead to inaccurate test results.
Those who undergo hydrostatic weighing generally sit in a chair, attached to a scale, in warm water slightly below their chin. The person is then asked to exhale as much air as possible and immerse their head completely in the water for a few seconds. The process from start to finish takes approximately 20-30 minutes and includes pre-weighing instructions and equipment for the person to be weighed.
After subtracting the residual air in the lungs, the result is the subject’s weight underwater. This is fed into a calculation that also takes into account weight carried on the ground and other factors to determine body density. This figure can then be used to determine the person’s body fat percentage.
Those who try hydrostatic weighing are often surprised, positively or negatively, by the results. Trained athletes are often above average standard weight compared to non-athletes, but often have fairly low body fat. Muscle weighs more than fat.
Conversely, sometimes thin people have a higher than normal body fat percentage. These people are usually surprised if their body density is not within a normal range. This information can be helpful in planning a healthy diet and exercise regimen that reduces body fat content and increases lean muscle mass.
Some health clubs and diet organizations offer hydrostatic weighing. There are also specific clinics for hydrostatic weighing and nutritional advice. Not many doctors offer this technology, even though they may refer a patient to a specialist or clinic that offers the test. Often, treatment centers for anorexia and other eating disorders have hydrostatic weighing equipment, as it can help focus patients on weight not derived from a scale, and may cause less concern for patients needing to be weighed.
Hydrostatic weighing is currently considered the best method for measuring body density and therefore body fat. It is, however, expensive and rarely covered by health insurance. If one cannot afford this type of weighing, one can ask doctors about the rapid and non-invasive skin fold test. Most doctors can do this at the patient’s request.
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