Aria body fat % way overstated

[KWilsonFox]

I've never been overweight, let alone obese - but the Aria scales have me at 38 - 39% body fat. I've tried replacing the batteries, standing on the scales multiple times, etc - but the body fat % insists that's what I am. I'm 5'9, female, 48 years old, 150lb and pretty fit. 

Any clues what to do?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LZeeW]

Hello @KWilsonFox and welcome to the Help forums.  I had the exact same experience as you.  Funny thing is, I am the exact height as was the exact weight as you when I got the scale.

Body fat analysis where the small electric current goes up one leg and down the other does have limitations.  It misses the upper body.  Even though I am not an elite athlete (was an athlete, but never elite), I put the scale in the lean mode.  It gave me a more realistic number, but it took several days to settle out.  The are online sites that have pictures of different body fat percents.  The number I got in the lean mode looks like what I see when I compare myself to these other pictures.

[Smoothdome]

I've used quite a few BIA scales over the years from a $24 Taylor to a $2000 Tanita which we used to check body fat levels on high school wrestlers prior to determining the lowest weight in which they could compete.  None has ever been accurate or consistent, but I had no idea by how much.  I had never done a DEXA body composition scan before last month after my latest weight drop.  The Tanita Ironman had me at 13.6% on the day I did the scan.  My jaw dropped afterwards.  22.7%.  At 54 years old and having just shed 17lbs over 5 weeks, I assumed it would read lower than the Tanita, not 9% higher.  Even at the highest weight I've been in the last 5 years, I haven't seen numbers over 18%.  While it doesn't answer the question as to what to do about the scale, my suggestion would be to start with an accurate measurement and use the BIA to track weekly fluctuations rather than portray accurate body fat percentages.