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The Bod Pod

Sarah Toovey : 26 October 2005

With statistics showing that over 60% of American adults are overweight or obese and many people complaining of the slow increase of body fat along with a loss of muscle over time and the realisation that monitoring weight alone doesn't help, another method of measurement had to be found. The scales cannot tell the difference between a pound of fat and a pound of muscle.

It isn't the person's weight that is the marker for obesity, more a case of what makes up the weight. Apparently, by careful measurement of the body's composition, healthy weight loss can be achieved. With the Bod Pod, methods of measurement have been transformed and are no longer invasive, inaccurate or difficult to perform.

The Bod Pod, from Life Measurement Inc, has been around since 1994 where it was introduced at the University of California at Davis and the Plourde Institute of Chicago to assess body fat levels in Adults and Children.

It has been developed with the assistance of Small Business Innovative Research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, the most prestigious health organisation in the world.

Now after additional funding,the Pea Pod, a new Infant Body Composition System has been launched in order to assess infant body composition accurately.

The aim of the Bod Pod and the Pea Pod is that with accurate assessment of body mass one can discover which parts of the body are made up of fats. In identifying areas of risk, intervention can be made and results monitored that may help to improve health, personal performance and quality of life. The information provided by the Bod Pod can allow for exercise and nutrition programmes to be implemented in order to safely achieve realistic goals.

The Bod Pod has clients including various medical centres and Universities throughout the United States, the US Army, University College in London England, Maniagalli Clinic in Italy and has been approved by NCAA Wrestling in order to assess wrestlers body mass, to name but a few. It is currently in use in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

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