Bariatric Scales

Lifestyle changes happen due to a combination of factors including longer working hours, a higher disposable income; and easy availability of junk food has triggered an increase in obesity. The rise in obesity and its associated diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure has raised alarm bells globally. The US First Lady Michelle Obama has taken serious cognizance of this alarming trend terming child obesity a threat to national security and even starting a campaign to eat healthy. All this reflects the importance of monitoring and treating obesity and the related increase in demand for weight monitoring equipment.

One such equipment that is specifically designed to determine weight of obese people is bariatric scales. These scales are weighing equipment that offers a high enough capacity to determine weight of people weighing over 500 pounds. The medical scale allows doctors and patients themselves to monitor weight which is not possible at times with common fitness scales or physician’s scales.

Bariatric scales have replaced traditional scales for determining body weight of obese people as they are more accurate. These digital scales also provide protective railings that a patient can hold on to while getting weighed. They are designed in such a way that they are easy to move and quite flexible. The reasons for providing such ease of use is to accommodate health care providers and obese patients. Manufacturers incorporate extra-wide weighing platforms and heavy duty components to accommodate patients. Body mass and body fat are just some specific units that these scales can measure.

Some bariatric scale manufacturers even have provision for wheelchair-bound patients. They have designs that can allow weight of a bariatric patient who is wheelchair bound to be weighed without any strain. There are designs that also allow bed-ridden patients to be weighed. Makers of these digital scales ensure that they are covering all unforeseen circumstances including old patients who need to be handled with care as also handicapped people. They also keep in mind the risk of injury to a caregiver that increased weight increase is bound to bring. Some innovations that equipment makers have brought about include bariatric walkers, bariatric rollator, and bariatric wheelchairs.

Other life-changing innovations that scale makers have conceptualized include the ability to discern the weight of a bed and that of the patient if a bed-ridden patient is weighed along with the bed itself. Patients undergoing intensive dialysis and nutritionally challenged can also be precisely measured as changes in fluid loss and gain can be monitored immediately and a caregiver can be alerted of the change.