age, our bone mass then begins to reduce. You can combat this reduction to an extent with the help of a
healthy diet (particularly calcium and vitamin D) and regular physical exercise. The stability of your skeleton
can be further increased by means of targeted muscle build-up. Please note that this scale does not iden-
tify the total bone mass, but rather just the mineral content of the bone (without water content and without
organic substances). It is very difficult to influence the bone mass, although it does fluctuate slightly within
the scope of influencing factors (weight, height, age, gender). There are no recognised guidelines or recom-
mendations.
IMPORTANT:
Please do not confuse bone mass with bone density.
The bone density can only be determined by means of a medical examination (e.g. computer
tomography, ultrasound). It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions on changes to bones and
bone hardness (e.g. osteoporosis) using this scale.
BMR
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy required by the body at complete rest in order to
maintain its basic functions (e.g. when lying in bed 24 hours a day). This value is primarily dependent on
weight, height and age.
It is displayed on the diagnostic bathroom scale in the kcal/day unit and is calculated using the scientifi-
cally recognised Harris-Benedict equation.
This is the amount of energy that is required by your body under all circumstances and must be re-sup-
plied to the body in the form of food. If your energy intake is below this level in the longer term, this can
result in damage to health.
AMR
The active metabolic rate (AMR) is the amount of energy that the active body consumes each day. An indi-
vidual's energy requirement increases when the level of physical activity increases; the diagnostic bath-
room scale calculates this by means of the activity level (1-5) that has been entered.
To maintain the current weight, the energy that the body uses must be replaced in the form of food and
drink.
If less energy is taken in than is used over a long period of time, the body primarily takes the difference
from the fat stores, with resulting weight loss. However, if the amount of energy taken in exceeds the cal-
culated active metabolic rate (AMR) for a longer period, the body cannot burn off the excess energy. The
excess is stored in the body as fat, leading to weight gain.
Temporal context of the results
Note: Please note that only the long-term trend is important. Brief deviations in weight within a few
days are normally caused by loss of fluids.
The interpretation of the results is based on changes in total body weight, percentage of body fat, body
water and muscle content, as well as on the length of time over which these changes occur.
Rapid changes within the scope of a few days are to be considered separately from medium-term
changes (in the scope of weeks) and long-term changes (months).
It can be said as a basic rule that short-term changes in weight are almost entirely changes in water con-
tent, whereas medium-term and long-term changes may also relate to the fat percentage and the muscle
percentage.
• If your weight drops in the short term but your body fat percentage increases or stays the same, you
have only lost water, for example following a training session, visit to the sauna or a diet aimed only at
fast weight loss.
• If your weight increases in the medium term and your body fat percentage drops or stays the same, you
may have built up valuable muscle mass.
• If your weight and body fat percentage both fall at the same time, then your diet is working – you are
losing fat mass.
• Ideally, you should support your diet with physical activity, fitness or strength training. This enables you
to increase your muscle percentage in the medium term.
• Body fat, body water and muscle percentages should not be totalled (muscle tissue also contains com-
ponents made of body water).
20