Mannatech: Leading the Revolution to End BMI as a Measure of Health

GUANGZHOU, China–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mannatech^®, a global health and wellness company, is leading the health and weight loss industry by calling for the end of the one-size-fits-all Body Mass Index (BMI) as a success measurement in weight management. Mannatech is in favor of adopting a focus on body composition, fat loss and building lean muscle, which offer a better, longer-term path to weight management over BMI.

Mannatech recognizes that the weight loss industry has predominantly focused on using scale weight and BMI for decades as a way to measure weight management success. Unfortunately, programs based on BMI are notorious for not delivering long-lasting weight loss or health benefits. This means that countless people around the world who are struggling with their weight have very few tools beyond the outdated BMI methods that will only provide temporary solutions.

To help with this problem, Mannatech is leading the effort in the weight loss industry toward shifting the focus to body composition over BMI. Mannatech’s pioneering efforts include the creation of a program that emphasizes fat loss and lean muscle development over simple BMI ratings and scale weight as a way to measure success. The focus on body composition provides a path that leads to longer-term results and supports better overall health.

“It is time to completely throw out the BMI standard and smash our scales because that obsolete approach is not working. We believe that using the BMI has contributed to putting people on an endless cycle of weight gain and loss,” said Alfredo “Al” Bala, President and CEO of Mannatech, Inc. “We see BMI as a systemic problem that the weight loss industry has not effectively addressed. Nearly everything about weight management was dependent on BMI and scale weight. We know healthy weight management depends on a lot more than just what the scale says. The endless back-and-forth weight loss and gain cycle has to end, and Mannatech has a valid approach to ending it.”

Mannatech’s body composition focus and fat-loss efforts are driven by the company’s desire to change lives in a meaningful and long-lasting way. By throwing out weight loss and creating a program that supports an individual’s body type and metabolism based on fat loss and muscle building, the company has been able to achieve this objective. Now Mannatech challenges the entire weight management industry to do the same.

“BMI has outlasted its welcome, and I fear it has caused as much harm as it may have helped,” said Dr. Steve Nugent, Mannatech’s Senior Global Wellness Director and Chairman of the Mannatech Global Scientific Advisory Board. “BMI has been used as a single metric to approximate healthy body composition and that is not accurate. For example, according to BMI calculations, someone like National Basketball Association star LeBron James, at six-foot-eight-inches, 250 pounds with a BMI of 27.5, would be classified as ‘overweight’ and on his way to being obese by the BMI scale. We really can’t go on thinking that BMI or scale weight are an accurate or realistic measure for long-term success in healthy weight management.”

To support its efforts to change the weight management industry, Mannatech developed its TruHealth™ Fat-Loss System^†. This system combines beneficial, whole food dietary recommendations with naturally sourced supplements and exercise to help support the body’s natural ability to reduce harmful toxins and encourage healthy fat loss.

“Those trying to achieve weight control are usually offered BMI and scale weight as the end-all measurements,” said Dr. Nugent. “This is a simple approach that is not about health, and because it is not sustainable and can involve the loss of lean muscle, dropping weight quickly often results in weight quickly returning. We believe that building muscle that helps burn fat is the way to healthy body composition. We believe that success is based not by pounds lost but by inches that are lost, by how fit you are and by how you feel in your clothes.”

The TruHealth System, which is free from gluten, soy, dairy, MSG, artificial colors, flavors and artificial sweeteners, and is suitable for vegetarians, is available at Mannatech’s^{^} cross-border e-commerce business website: www.MeiTaiChina.com.