Weight loss is a money making industry. And where money can be made, gambling will occur. So from pre-wedding bets to company-wide pools, people are putting the forks down to avoid forking over cash. As belly-betting becomes the latest fad in the health care industry, its critical to ensure winners emerge fairly and accurately. The results of March Madness pools aren’t calculated with a slide rule; nor should your weight be measured using the counterweight balance from 1974 in your company’s gym. To keep things fair and square, we’re pleased to introduce the uber-accurate Tanita Innerscan BC-350-- because nobody wants to end a bet in a tie.

With an accuracy guage that gets down to just 50 grams (0.1 pounds), the BC-350 claims the highest level of accuracy of any scale on the market. At just ½ in thick, and weighing in at 3.3 pounds, it looks impressive, ensuring photos of the final weigh-in will be worthy of the company newsletter. With the ability to store data for up to four separate users, the BC-350 even helps curb cheating.

While the device’s level of accuracy likely justifies its $269.99 price tag, its ability to quantify other biometrics could prompt weight-loss gambling to diversify and multiply. Sports fans don’t just bet on winners and losers. They bet the line, the over/under, and which team will win the opening tip. If it happens during the game, someone is betting on it. And there’s nothing a gambler loves more than combing those bets into some form of parlay. But other than inaccurately measuring some reduction in belt size, what more can a weight loss competition offer? How about Body Fat percentage, Body Water percentage, total muscle mass, physique rating, basal metabolic rate, metabolic age, bone mass and visceral fat? And don’t think you need to run to your doctor, or contract an exercise physiologist, to calculate this data. Nope, the BC-350 delivers all of these metrics by utilizing the bioelectrical impedance analysis method (BIA). The BC-350 achieves this by sending a low level electrical signal through the feet and into the body through the metal foot pads on the scale, while taking into account your height, weight, age and sex.

With every man jogging to the mailbox wearing some sort of chest strap to monitor calories burned, heart rate or respiration, it’s nice to have a device that offers something unique to further feed our obsession with health quantification. While we’re not exactly sure what all those metrics really mean, or how they relate to overall well-being, we don’t really care, do we? The BC-350 comes with a guide on all of this, anyway, for inquiring minds. But let’s not lose sight of my point: The BC-350 opens up a plethora of parlays in weight loss gambling.