Which method of measuring body fat do you consider to be most accurate?

Comparing skin fold technique with the Tanita scale, which method of measuring body fat do you consider to be the most accurate? Explain your reasons for your choice in logical, anatomical and physiological terms.

Public Comments

1. I consider a dexa scan to be the most accurate. You get an exact body fat percentage for each part of the body. All others are good for some things and not so good for others. Tanita scans are only as good as they are made and calibrated... Skin folds are only as good as the person doing them... I've been measured on both and gotten right and wrong results from each. In the hands of a skilled tester, with at least 5 sites, I've seen more accurate results more frequently with skin folds.
2. Honestly the most accurate body fat measurements are the true ones when they submers you in water, but they are very expensive. The key to measuring bodyfat is to be consistant. If you use the same tools week after week you can track your progress. Thats what its really all about right? Tracking your progress... I recomend Accumeasure fat calipers, they are like 12 bucks and you can use one arm and do your own measurements every week to track your fat loss. P.S. those scales are crap, they are based on test that were done with probes on the fingers and the toes which are accurate. However then you stand on a scale the electrical pulses will take the shortest path, so you really only get the fat % of your lower half. Scales are not accurate.
3. Best is the ones done in water. But since that's not a very handy option next is calipers. AccuFitness has nice ones. I personally have FatTrack PRO and am very happy with it. Jackson/Pallock method is the best in my opinion to give an estimate depending on caliper measurements. You can go to http://www.linear-software.com/online.html and enter your caliper measurements and get the results OR if you buy FatTrack PRO it comes with a software which lets you use all the methods available to calculate and compare, the results come out to be very close from different calculations. As for the scales, don't buy them, they are easy to use but not accurate at all.
4. Submersion, only way to be 100& acurate