Overweight means an excess of total body weight based on population averages for heights and body frame sizes. Athletes and very muscular people may be overweight, but that does not mean they are over fat. Obesity means an excess of body fat regardless of weight. Weight alone is not a clear indicator of good health because it does not distinguish between pounds that come from body fat and those that come from lean body mass or muscle. Carrying too much fat is a condition called obesity, and puts a person at risk for many serious medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes and even certain forms of cancer. Tanita's patented "foot pad" electrode design uses Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) to determine body fat. Tanita has patented a revolutionary new way of measuring BIA that is faster, easier, less intrusive and includes a precision scale making this a simple one-step process. Tanita's monitor looks just like a bathroom scale. A person inputs age group, gender and height, then steps onto the platform. Electrodes in the foot sensor pads send a low, safe signal through the body. Weight is calculated automatically along with body fat content in less than a minute. All Body Fat Monitor/Scales and UltimateScales feature Tanita's patented BIA method. Tanita Body Fat Scales measure both weight and body fat in just seconds. The weight scale is a precision digital weight scale.