Amway launches meal replacement, weight-loss system

With the right meal replacement and personalised weight-loss programme, consumers can achieve desirable results in a safe and sustainable way, the company claims.
With more and more Thais becoming overweight, Amway is confident that BodyKey by Nutrilite will become a flagship and boost the overall Nutrilite sales to at least Bt6.7 billion this year, or 7-per-cent growth in the next four months.
Kittawat Ritteerawee, managing director of Amway (Thailand), said the Health Systems Research Institute’s 2009 health survey revealed that one-third of Thais were overweight, and thus Thailand ranked second in Asean, lagging behind only Malaysia, when it came to the number of overweight citizens.
In addition, obesity has become a growing threat because of Thais’ changing lifestyles such as longer work hours in a sitting position, physical inactivity, and preferences towards spending free time on delicious meals rather than on working out.
However, an increasing number of Thais have become acutely conscious about their health and appearance. As a result, many Thais have been turning to weight-control products.
Thanks to the widespread use of smartphones, Thais have also had convenient access to weight-control gadgets and applications, which can count the number of steps they make and the amount of burned calories each day.
Recognising such trends, Amway believes that BodyKey by Nutrilite will become one of its flagships. The product is expected to take a sizeable share of Thailand’s Bt10-billion weight-loss-product market, which tends to grow by 8 per cent per year.
Ratana Channara, marketing director of Amway (Thailand), said that while most Thais are now health- and figure-conscious, many lacked the right knowledge and understanding of how to lose weight. This is a key reason their weight loss is often not sustainable.
Last month, Suan Dusit Poll surveyed 895 Thais about their attitudes towards excessive body weight. According to the findings, most Thais know that their eating habits and consumption of some food types can cause obesity. However, up to 62 per cent of the respondents had never imagined that their sleeping behaviour and stress were also significant factors.
Scientists at Nutrilite Health Institute claim to have identified six key lifestyles behind weight issues: physical activity, diet type, sleep, stress, meal habits, and mindset towards weight control.
For example, people respond differently to specific diet types. Some groups of people gain weight quickly from carbohydrate consumption while some others do from fat intake. Amway says BodyKey by Nutrilite addresses this fact by preparing scientifically endorsed tests to determine six consumers’ lifestyles. Consequently, they will find out the real obstacles to their weight-loss efforts. A personalised programme can then be designed to help them lose weight with clear results.
Ratana said that for safe and sustainable weight loss, the programme by BodyKey had four aspects.
The first was the use of BodyKey by Nutrilite Meal Replacement, which allows easy calculation of daily calorie intake and consumption of all necessary nutrients.
Second is the BodyKey application, which can be downloaded on smartphones and serve as a personal coach on diet and exercise. It can also report daily progress.
Third is personalised assessment, which evaluates six key lifestyles individually. After the evaluation, consumers will know how they should adjust their lifestyles so that they can lose weight efficiently and satisfactorily.
The final aspect is the InBody Band, which monitors its wearer’s physical movement, duration of movement, the number of steps taken, calories burned and sleep quality. This wearable device won an award from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
“We are confident that BodyKey by Nutrilite and our weight-control products will receive very warm response from Thai consumers,” Ratana said. “They are expected to generate Bt670 million between their official launch and the end of 2015.”