Abstract
Consumers are increasingly seeking technology to help track health improvements. This study focuses on a free app that using 3D body scanning to assess body composition. PURPOSE: to evaluate the validity of a free app for measuring percent body fat (%BF) by comparing it to an established lab method. METHODS: Thirty-two participants (age= 25.9±9.1 years, height= 65.1±4.3 in, weight= 173.8±4.2 lbs) had body composition measured using the BodPod, InBody 570, Omron HBF-306, and the MeThreeSixty app. A Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to explore significant difference in percent body fat (%BF) between the four measures with the Bonferroni technique was used to explore pairwise comparisons. Alpha was set at .05 for all tests. Error was calculated as (BodPod-App)/BodPod)*100 and agreement was assessed with Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in body fat percentage (%BF) between the four methods, F(3, 29)=30.1, p=.001. Data comparisons revealed that BodPod (30.5±10.7%) was significantly different from InBody (35.0±9.4%), p=.001, the app (32.2±3.7%) differed from Omron (27.9±7.3%), p=.006, and InBody differed from Omron, p=.001. No significant differences were found between BodPod and the app, BodPod and Omron, or the app and InBody (p>.05). Agreement was least and percent absolute error was greatest with the App. CONCLUSIONS: Since no significant differences were found between the BodPod and the app, this suggests it can provide comparable results to a criterion, making it a potentially alternative for measuring body composition. However, since error was high and agreement low with the app, caution should be used if needing a precise reading of body composition.
Recommended Citation
Aldama, Faith N.; Guajardo, Lillianna; Martinez, Gabriella; and Smith, John D.
(2025)
"Accuracy of a Mobile 3D Body Scanning App for Body Composition,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2:
Iss.
17, Article 139.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss17/139
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Medical Education Commons, Sports Sciences Commons
