Body composition analysis is gaining popularity as a way to measure health, beyond measuring weight alone. Most health & fitness facilities offer some form of body composition analysis. Unfortunately many of these facilities are still using antiquated skin-fold calipers which date back to almost the turn of the century. To cope with the demand for quicker, easier and more accurate testing methods, Valhalla Scientific has responded by providing a new and improved bioimpedance body composition analyzer, model BC1. It must be pointed out that many others, accepted as reliable, have not experienced academic validation nor or blessed by medical institutions and some are no more than fancy marketing tools. The BC1 has undergone extensive testing and validation through independent parties, Universities, USDA, etc., are found to be extremely accurate and repeatable. Please refer to our University Validation Study.

First introduced in early 1997, after 15 years experience in body composition analysis using bioimpedance technology, the Body Composition Scale provides health and fitness facilities the fastest, non-disrobing and accurate body composition analyzer on the market ever. Combining over 15 years of accepted bioimpedance device manufacturing, Valhalla Scientific, Inc. has taken this technology one step further. When discussing bioimpedance, it must be emphasized that most devices using this methodology experience a non-repeatable variability in test results due to subject’s hydration levels. This is not the case for the BC1.

Valhalla Scientific, Inc. was the first to recognize the methodology flaw and designed the BC1 Body Composition Scale utilizing Ohms Modulation Logic (OML) technology to circumvent this limitation. The body composition algorithm was derived from a data base that experienced thousands upon thousands of body composition test results.

With this mountain of evidence Valhalla recognized the disparity. Our feature of Ohms Modulation Logic has been scientifically proven to eliminate any need to adhere to any pretest conditions. Elimination of test result variation provides the Body Composition Scale with an unparalleled reproducibility and accuracy of measurement.

The Body Composition Scale offers tremendous value as a stand-alone unit, however when adding the power of the printer, you are presented with detailed information regarding the person's current health assessment as related to body fat. The Body Composition Scale offers two health assessment printout options i.e. plain and illustrated. Plain paper reports offer summary information, while the illustrated print-outs offer detailed information highlighting total body water, lean muscle mass, fat mass, total body weight, resting energy expenditure, percentage over ideal weight, cancer propensities and life expectancy based on body fat percentage.

Many manufacturers have tried to duplicate the Body Composition's printouts, but the information and quality of the graphics has never been matched. The five pages are designed to educate and motivate clients/patients and evoke an "act now" response. Using this instilled urgency the illustrated health risk assessment forms have been proven to increase closing ratios for health clubs and weight control clinics. Although it is an intangible feature, the printouts create a perceived value that can only put you ahead of the competition. It should be mentioned, that all print-outs can be accomplished in under one minute. The Body Composition Scale BC1 is ideal for processing large volumes of subjects for use in field testing i.e. at Health fairs, and other community outreach programs. The BC1 is battery-powered portable.

Health is the level of functional and/or metabolic efficiency of an organism at both the micro(cellular) and macro(social) levels. In the medical field, health is commonly defined as an organism's ability to efficiently respond to challenges (stressors) and effectively restore and sustain a "state of balance", known as homeostasis.

Another widely accepted definition of health is that of the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". In more recent years, this statement has been modified to include the ability to lead a "socially and economically productive life."

The body consists of fat pounds and lean body mass or muscle pounds. Weighing alone just tells what they both add up to while the Valhalla BC1 will tell you how many of each you have thereby providing an opportunity to do something to improve the good/bad ratio.

Packing around an excessive amount of body fat is a condition called obesity and, simply stated, puts a person at risk for many serious medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes and even certain forms of cancer. In fact, obesity contributes to at least half the chronic diseases in Western Society, encompassing heart disease, diabetes and even certain forms of cancer. Additionally, obesity contributes to at least half the chronic diseases in our society. Surprising isn’t it?

Obesity is a condition in which the natural energy reserve stored in the fatty tissue is increased to a point where it is associated with many poor health conditions and is documented to contribute to earlier mortality. Although obesity is an individual clinical condition, it is increasingly generally viewed as a serious and growing health issue as excessive body weight, especially body fat, has been shown to be predispose to various diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus type 2, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and more.

Doctors and scientists classify men with more than 25% body fat and women with more than 30% body fat as obese and can expect to live a shorter life span. With Bioimpedance data to spur recognition of the risk factor, the opportunity for correction is afforded.

The presence of risk factors and diseases associated with obesity are also used to establish a clinical diagnosis. Coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea are possible life-threatening risk factors that would indicate clinical treatment of obesity.

While obesity itself is superficially of cosmetic concern, a large number of medical conditions have been associated with obesity. Disease associations may be dependent or independent of the distribution of adipose tissue. Central obesity (male-type or waist-predominant obesity, characterised by a high waist-hip ratio), is an important risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, the clustering of a number of diseases and risk factors that heavily predispose for cardiovascular disease. These are diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels (combined hyperlipidemia). There are alterations in the body's response to insulin (insulin resistance), a proinflammatory state and an increased tendency to thrombosis.