Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Clear Your Cache

Health.mil has undergone a recent update. For the best user experience we recommend clearing your browser cache.

The 'BodPod' Measures Body Fat and Fat-Free Mass

Image of Meagan Loughanne, a health educator at Aberdeen Proving Ground Army Wellness Center, Maryland, conducts a BodPod assessment on Sgt. Abdel P. Moluh. This simple and effective assessment provides clients with an accurate measurement of their body fat percentage, fat-free mass and fat mass in pounds. Based on the client’s goals, the health educator will provide tailored education and coaching. Meagan Loughanne, a health educator at Aberdeen Proving Ground Army Wellness Center, Maryland, conducts a BodPod assessment on Sgt. Abdel P. Moluh. This simple and effective assessment provides clients with an accurate measurement of their body fat percentage, fat-free mass and fat mass in pounds. Based on the client’s goals, the health educator will provide tailored education and coaching.

Step into this oblong, egg-shaped machine for just five minutes and you'll receive a detailed analysis of your body composition measuring your fat mass and your fat-free mass, including blood, organs, and muscle.

Known as the "BodPod", the device can quickly assess your body composition with a degree of accuracy that once required far more costly and cumbersome methods.

The BodPod is a next-generation body composition device that uses air displacement to measure the density of your whole body to determine body composition and resting metabolic rate.

The device offers a more sophisticated measurement of your body composition than the traditional metric of Body Mass Index, or BMI, which only measures weight with respect to height. BMI does not measure the amount of weight composed of fat versus fat-free lean muscle mass.

BMI is useful as a marker of health. However, body fat percentage is a better indicator of an individual's overall health.

The BodPod specifically measures body composition, and it uses different formulas based on ethnicity (which can account for differences in bone density and thoracic capacity, for example).

The BodPod system is in use at numerous Army and Air Force installations, including 35 Army Wellness Centers (AWCs)/Armed Forces Wellness Centers (AFWCs).

Individual data can be tracked in a centralized data collection system, allowing any client to track his or her progress as they move from installation to installation.

For those who are claustrophobic, the device has a large window that may help reduce your anxiety about being in a closed-in space.

The assessment requires clients to wear Lycra or spandex on their body and head, such as a swimsuit and swimmer's cap.

Army Wellness Centers/Armed Forces Wellness Centers

The BodPod can measure improvements in body composition as part of the wellness centers' holistic approach to body weight management and healthy lifestyles. The device and all other wellness center services are available to all service members, their families, retirees and DOD civilians.

In addition to tracking an individual's progress to become healthier, these wellness centers' core programs include stress management, healthy sleep habits, nutrition, tobacco-free living, and other lifestyle habits that can be markers for troop fitness and resiliency across the military.

Along with improving fitness, wellness center programs can directly impact readiness by reducing lost or limited duty time. The primary goals of the program are to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury, improve overall performance, and enhance the ability of individuals to maintain lifelong healthy behaviors.

Check out the location of your nearest wellness center or schedule an appointment. All 35 centers worldwide use the BodPod.

You also may be interested in...

Article
Sep 28, 2023

Nebraska Air National Guard State Surgeon’s Path Leads Him to Professional Boxing’s Highest Pinnacle

Nebraska Air National Guard Col. (Dr.) Mark Shirley takes in a practice at Mick Doyle’s Kickboxing and Fitness Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on Oct. 10, 2022. A member of the Nebraska Air National Guard where he serves as the state surgeon, Shirley is also a doctor of osteopathic medicine and a member of the emergency department staff of the Memorial Community Hospital and Health System in Blair, Nebraska. (Photo: U.S. Air Force National Guard Lt. Col. Kevin Hynes)

Dressed in surgical scrubs, Nebraska Air National Guard Col. Mark Shirley looks like any other medical doctor pulling a 24-hour emergency department shift. Shirley serves as the state air surgeon where he oversees the medical support required to keep the Nebraska Air Guard’s approximately 1,000 airmen ready to support any and every federal or state ...

Article
Aug 2, 2023

55th Dental Squadron Participates in Operation Healthy Delta

U.S. Air Force Capt. Bethanie Swanson, a dentist, and U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Omalee Vega, the noncommissioned officer in charge, both assigned to the 55th Medical Group in Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, conduct a dental examination during Operation Healthy Delta Innovative Readiness training program in Anna, Illinois, on June 11, 2023.  (Photo: U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Danielle Dawson)

More than 270 service members from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Army and U.S. Air National Guard, Army and Air Force Reserve, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, U.S. Navy Reserve, and the U.S Public Health Service collaborated to provide no-cost health services to underserved communities in Illinois and Missouri.

Article
Aug 1, 2023

Case Report: Complicated Urinary Tract Infection Due to an Extensively Resistant Escherichia coli in a Returning Traveler

This article presents the medical case report of a 76-year-old man who returned to the U.S. following overseas travel and was admitted at Hawai'i's Tri­pler Army Medical Center with a complicated urinary tract infection due to an extensively resistant strain of E. coli.

Article
Aug 1, 2023

Active Surveillance for Acute Respiratory Disease Detected No Outbreaks at Four U.S. Army Basic Training Installations in 2022

This article presents the 2022 results of the active surveillance program for acute respiratory disease and Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus conducted by the Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen at the four Army installations responsible for basic combat training or one-station unit training. This ARD surveillance program rapidly monitors, ...

Article
Jul 25, 2023

Defense Public Health Experts Investigate If Minority Group Service Members are More Likely to Experience Behavioral Health Problems

A recent Department of Defense study found American Indian and Alaska Native U.S. Army Soldiers had higher rates of suicidal ideation than white soldiers. The DOD is investigating behavioral health disparities among minority groups in the military to see how they might mirror similar disparities in the civilian population. (Graphic illustration: Steven Basso, Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen)

U.S. public health agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health have recognized that certain minority groups appear to experience greater risk for certain behavioral health disorders. The higher rates of adverse health problems in minority groups are often referred to as “disparities.”

Article
Jun 28, 2023

88th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron Focused on ‘Fit to Fight’ Force

Brenda Couch watches over U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ron Sparkman, a student at the 155th medical group with the Nebraska National Guard, as he checks vitals on an airman during training at Wright-Patterson Medical Center on June 13. Operational Medical Readiness Squadron was this month’s pick for “Dominate the Dirty Work,” a series of stories offering an in depth look at the hard working and dedicated individuals that often go unseen. (Photo: Kenneth J. Stiles, U.S. Air Force)

The 88th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron provides direct support to U.S. Air Force operations by promoting and sustaining force health, preventing injury and illness, restoring health, and elevating human performance. Its top priority is ensuring airmen and military members are medically ready to execute their missions at home-base and deployed ...

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search
Last Updated: February 25, 2025
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery