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I have been a fan of smart scales for years, I found my Fitbit Scales, then Nokia (now Withings) scales were a significant help with my losing weight, allowing me to track the trend of declining weight compared to stressing about individual weigh-ins.
Withings appear to be the only company attempting to expand the functionality of smart scales. I have previously reviewed the Withings Body Cardio, which does all the usual stuff, including weight and body composition. But, it also did heart health with Pulse Wave Velocity and heart rate.
At CES this year, they announced the Body Scan scales, which added handles for ECG & segmented body composition. Unfortunately, even though it was announced 8-months ago, you still can’t buy it. The press release did state availability would be the second half of the year, and this delay is likely due to them requiring FDA clearance.
At IFA 2022, they announced another new scale, the Withings Body Comp, which also integrates with the Health+ service.
Withings Body Comp extends the functionality of the Body Cardio to extend the body composition analysis to include visceral fat, the first scales on the market to offer this function. It then also introduces a new nerve health assessment which is derived from Electrochemical Skin Conductance.
Visceral fat
Visceral fat is regarded as the most harmful fat as it wraps around your abdominal organs deep inside your body. Quite often, even thin people can have high amounts of visceral fat due to poor diet and lack of exercise, leading to the phrase skinny fat.
Visceral fat is more likely to raise your risk for serious medical issues. Heart disease, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and high cholesterol are some of the conditions that are strongly linked to too much fat of this can of fat.
Withings Body Comp Features
This makes the Withings Body Comp the most advanced scales to launch on the market. The full features include:
- Full body composition (weight, muscle mass, fat mass, water %, bone mass, BMI, and for the first time, visceral fat)
- Cardiovascular assessment (Standing Heart Rate, Vascular Age)
- Nerve health assessment (Nerve Health Score computed from Electrochemical Skin Conductance)
The Cardiovascular assessment was already on the Body Cardio scales, but the its Nerve Health Score is new. This is an assessment of nerve activity which is determined by monitoring the sweat glands in the feet. A low Nerve Health Score is a sign of reduced sweat gland innervation, which is linked to a degeneration of small nerve fibers. Together, these measurements can help users to better understand their risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.
Health+ Subscription Service
Withings hinted at a subscription service back at CES, and it is now being rolled out with these scales.
Health+ is a health service unlocking additional features in the Health Mate app, designed to help people understand and take better ownership of their health data while providing the tools, actionable insights, and motivations to change behaviour and outcomes. Based on proven scientific principles, Health+ is designed to work in tandem with data from Withings devices, beginning with Body Comp.
An addition to the current Withings Health Mate App, Health+ unlocks new details and metrics that deliver a more complete picture of health to each user. Six-week habit-building modules empower users to achieve their health goals while seeing their progress through their measurements. The result is sustained behavior change with visible results.
Creating Continuous Motivational Loops: Measure. Act. Improve. Repeat
Measure: Health+ delivers the ability to truly understand the various Body Comp measurements and how they change with healthier behaviours. It unlocks exclusive deep analysis and contextualizes data with the ability to log food, mood, and sleep. Users can note circumstances around each measurement to reveal what has an impact on their health metrics.
Act: Users get daily plans of what to do, along with suggested recipes and workouts to help them reach their chosen goals. They can access a library of 6-week habit-building modules designed to improve activity, sleep, stress management, and nutrition that are based on the latest clinical evidence. They provide instructional workout videos, exercise plans, nutritional advice, recipes, and exclusive educational content written and curated by doctors.
Improve: Health+ allows people to correlate data to see how and when a key metric evolves so they know where to place their efforts. It provides weekly interactive reports providing detailed analysis of a user’s progress and monthly measurement reports that they can share with their doctors.
Repeat: To provide ongoing motivation, every milestone is celebrated. From rewarding a steady measurement routine, to slowly increased activity to achieving nutrition goals, Health+ continually engages users with reminders and rewards in the form of exclusive collectible badges.
Price and Availability
Body Comp with Health+ will be available at www.withings.com from October 4, 2022, priced at $209.95 for the scale and a 12-month subscription.
I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.
As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.
In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.
I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.
