Tanita 2202 Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor

by Tanita

Product Features

• Guest mode allows one-time use without altering stored memory
• Scale measures weight and monitors body fat
• Personal data can be pre-set and stored for 2 users, age 7 to 99
• Programs age, height, and gender
• Digital display shows pounds, kilograms, or stones, with 0.5% body fat gradations

Product Description

Amazon.com

How much of your body weight comes from fat and how much from lean muscle? This scale lets you know so that you can make choices to improve and monitor your health. Tanika has patented a precise, easy way to use the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) method at home. Simply enter your personal data using the ‘set,’ ‘up’ and ‘down’ buttons, and then stand barefoot on the scale. Electrodes in the foot sensor pads send a low-level electrical current through the body which measures the percentage of body fat. How? The current passes quickly through muscle and is slowed by fat.

One or two users can program the scale with their following personal data: age, height, and male or female. A switch on the back lets the user choose metric, imperial, or stones/pounds. The large one-line digital display shows weight followed by body fat percentage, and indicates whether the user is underfat, healthy, overfat, or obese. A chart included in the instruction booklet shows appropriate ranges of fat percentage for age and gender. A ‘guest’ button allows one-time readings without reprogramming one of the two memory stores. The weight capacity of this scale is 300 pounds (136 kilograms; 21 stones/6 pounds).

The scale, white with metallic foot pads, measures 11-1/2 by 12 by 2 inches and should be used on a hard, level, dry floor. Four AA batteries (included) are required for operation. The monitor is intended for adults (up to age 99) and children (age 7 and older) who lead inactive or moderately active lifestyles. The body fat monitor is not intended for use by pregnant women, people with pacemakers or other implanted electronic medical devices, professional athletes, or bodybuilders. Body fat percentage estimates may vary from day to day due to hydration changes from alcohol consumption, menstruation, illness, and other such factors. Readings taken at the same time everyday under consistent conditions will be most accurate. Tanita covers this scale with a three-year warranty. --Ann Bieri

Product Description

Tanita's two-person Duo Scale plus body fat monitors store two sets of pre-programmed personal data for fast, simple operation. The Duo model are designed specifically for two people who want to stay in control of weight and body fat management.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds
• ASIN: B000094ZGF
• UPC: 742496800435
• Item model number: 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,946 in Health & Personal Care (See Top 100 in Health & Personal Care)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

189 of 190 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great product for a great value!, August 25, 2003

By 

Ntombi A. Peters "bibliophile" (Bostonian exiled in SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tanita 2202 Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor (Health and Beauty)

I bought this scale eight months ago, switching from a medium-priced digital model available at many department stores. To fully explain why I love this scale, I have to explain the old scale. Every morning, I would step on the old scale at least three times, and then take the weight I got most often. Sometimes, it took six or seven readings, to get the same weight twice, and the number would vary by up to four pounds! I got fed up and bought my Tanita.

Whew! What a relief! I can step on it twenty-seven times in a row (okay, I haven't done it that many times, but I have stepped on and off up to five times), and get the exact same weight, down to the decimal point! That alone is worth the price.

Then, there's the body fat monitor. I've found it extremely accurate for me (unfortunately, the reading is higher than I'd like, but...). Be SURE to read and follow the directions, which call for taking the bf% reading in the evening, when you're fully hydrated. There is fat, and then lean body mass (LBM), which is made up of your bones, organs, muscle, and water, so if you're slightly dehydrated, as we usually are in the morning, the reading will be off, making your fat percentage higher than it really is. Yet another incentive to drink that water!

I keep charts for my weight and my bf%, so I weigh once in the morning for my weight chart, and once in the evening for the bf%. Of course, my evening weight is slightly higher as well, due to food and water intake, but I can at least see the lovely downward trend of my fat weight, and the relatively steady number of my LBM.

This scale is easy to use, has a nice memory feature, plus one for guests, which is nice. The memory feature means you don't have to enter your height, gender and age every time you step on it, and the guest feature is nice for very occassional users, so they won't have to take up a spot in the memory.

It takes easy to find AA batteries, and let's you know when their getting low, but I pushed mine to the limit, to see how long they would go once the "LO" started flashing, and I've been pleasantly surprised.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most important word in scales: ACCURATE, March 1, 2004

By 

K. Parry (Olathe, KS, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tanita 2202 Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor (Health and Beauty)

This scale is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor in my home. Previously I had a digital model by Thinner, and I was hard-pressed to get the same reading twice: step on it once and it said what is probably close to my actual weight. Step on it again and it shows about 40 pounds lighter, step again and it's about 5 over my actual weight.
I'd been wanting to replace this scale for a very long time, and I'd been eyeing the Tanita for most of that time, but I wanted to wait until they came down in price a bit. For me, the price now is appropriate. So I ordered the scale and it came to my doorstep within about 4 business days (thanks again for speedy service, Amazon!)
It does take a couple of minutes to get your statistics entered into the scale, but with easy-to-use up/down arrow buttons you get to your age/height/sex statistics rather quickly.
Once the scale is set up with your preferences, load up either slot 1 or 2, depending on which slot you inhabit, wait for the scale to go to zero, and step on with bare feet. Wait a couple of seconds and your weight is shown; wait about 5 more seconds and your body fat percentage is shown, complete with the range your percentage puts you in (ie "-" for underweight, "0" for "just right," "+" for overweight and "++" for very overweight). I find this to be a lot more helpful than using my height and weight to determine BMI, since I think the BMI only factors weight based on sedentary people or something. I work out a lot, and although I am still a smidge overweight, my BMI says I'm borderline obese, but the body fat percentage (and the "caliper test" by my personal trainer) shows that I'm just barely in the overweight range.
Whether a morale booster or a bad surprise, the body fat monitor is extremely helpful in letting you see a real picture of your current physical condition.
The weight portion of the scale is extremely accurate, which I greatly appreciate after my previous scale experience. Step on it once, get my actual weight; step on it again, get either my actual weight, or with a .2 pound variance either way. I also like the fact that the scale measures in increments of .2 pounds; this is far more accurate than I would expect for the low price.
Two important caveats, however: do NOT use if you have a pacemaker or other such device, as the body fat monitor does some electromagnetic thing to measure your body fat. Also, the common thinking (at least among myself and most women I know) is weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, and preferably after a grueling workout to get the lowest possible reading. This will work for the weight reading, but due to water retention this will get the highest body fat reading: for a more accurate body fat reading wait until you get home in the evening!
Whether you are trying to lose weight, trying to get in prime physical condition for a marathon, or just trying to make sure that you maintain a healthy weight, the Tanita Duo Scale is a great machine to help you in whichever goal you have in mind. A great scale for a great price.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works real well, September 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tanita 2202 Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor (Health and Beauty)

This scale is good. Weight is accurate, Body fat % is accurate, easy to use. You can store two peoples profiles and it has a guest option if other want to use it.

The only downside is that it does not start up automatically when you step on it. But it is fast, easy and accurate to use. The packaging and product quality are far superior to similar priced models from Taylor.