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
Apr 24, 2023

Report Reveals Military Hearing Loss is Stable

U.S. Navy Lt. Kyle Rodgers, an occupational audiologist at Naval Branch Health Clinic Jacksonville, uses an otoscope to conduct an ear exam.  (U.S. Navy photo by Deidre Smith, Naval Hospital)

The Defense Health Agency’s Hearing Center of Excellence Military Hearing Conservation Report for fiscal year 2021 revealed that hearing loss in the Department of Defense remains relatively stable among service members and civilians enrolled in hearing conservation programs.

Article
Apr 11, 2023

Navy Entomology Center of Excellence Arms the Department of Defense’s Experts in the Fight for Public Health

U.S. Air Force Capt. Deanna Scheff (left) receiving pesticide application training from U.S. Air Force Ensign Benfry DeJesus (right) during the largest inter-agency pesticide certification course delivered in nearly five years on Naval Air Station Jacksonville. (Photo by U.S. Navy Lt. Nicholas Johnston)

Navy Entomology Center of Excellence staff trained and equipped active duty preventive medicine and civilian pest control personnel representing U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army during the largest inter-agency pesticide certification course delivered in nearly five years on Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, Jan. 23.

Article
Feb 28, 2023

Dental Team First to Treat Patients at New Redi Doti Dental Clinic

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Susan Gjekaj, Air Expeditionary Squadron pediatric dentist, operates on a student of the Johan Chelius School in Redi Doti, Suriname, on Feb. 13. Dental personnel from the Lesser Antilles Medical Assistance Team engaged with members in the Lokono and Kalin'a villages to provide extractions, fillings, cleanings and teach best practices for sustaining good oral hygiene. (U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Alexus Wilcox)

The dental professionals of the Lesser Antilles Medical Assistance Team were the first to see patients in a newly opened dental clinic in Redi Doti, Suriname. The Youth Dental Care Foundation’s Redi Doti clinic will serve patients in rural communities, making dental services and preventative care more easily accessible for the region in South America.

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search